There may be several domino effects, good and bad, after the Alaska Board of Fisheries unanimously agreed last week to change the preferred size limit for bairdi crab from 5.5 to five inches in the Eastern district near Bristol Bay, according to a local radio station.
The bairdi tanner season ends March 31 and Bering Sea crab fishermen may face busier seasons ahead depending on possible quota hikes. In recent years, processors have started demanding five-inch crab and that became a factor in the quota set for bairdi, according to KUCB.
Ruth
