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Commercial Gear

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Both pots and ring nets are used in commercial crab fisheries. Pots and ring nets can be used in commercial Tanner crab fisheries and pots, ring nets, and diving gear can be used in commercial Dungeness crab fisheries. Only pots are allowed in commercial king crab fisheries. In all cases, crab pots account for the vast majority of the catch. Pot design and regulations differ by species, but all pot gear must have a biodegradable seam, panel or device that renders the pot incapable of retaining fish or shellfish for more than six months when it is lost while fishing. King crab pots are steel-framed and rectangular covered with nylon webbing of varying mesh sizes at different locations (top, bottom, sides, tunnel, door). Common sizes range from 2.0 m by 2.0 m to 2.4 m by 2.4 m, with heights varying from 0.7 m to 1.0 m.

Tanner and snow crab pots are modifications of king crab pots intended to retain smaller Tanner and snow crabs. Rectangular pots must have tunnel eye openings constrained to less than 5 inches (13 cm) in height to prevent the larger king crabs from entering the pot. This is usually accomplished by placing wooden slats in the tunnel eye of the king crab pots. A pyramid-shaped pot with a single tunnel at the top of the pot is also used in some areas (e.g., Southeast Alaska) specifically in Tanner crab fisheries. Dungeness crab pots are round and range from 1.0 to 1.5 m in diameter and about 0.4 to 0.5 m high. King crab pots have two tunnels on the sides of the pot with one tunnel opening for crab entry and the other with a secured door for emptying the pot contents. Dungeness crab pots have two escape rings to allow undersize crabs to leave the pot.

Pots are baited with chopped herring, other fish (such as cod or salmon), squid, or clams. Pots are lowered on a single buoyed line to the bottom and allowed to soak typically for one to two days when fishing for red king crabs, blue king crabs, or Dungeness crabs. Hydraulic pullers are used to launch and retrieve pots. In the Aleutian Islands, the depths and steep bottom topography in the inter-island passes inhabited by golden king crabs necessitates the use of longlined rather than single-pot gear. Longlined pots are set using a ramp over the stern of the vessel.

Once the pot is hauled, the catch is sorted on deck and all females and undersize males are released overboard. On catcher vessels, the retained catch of large males is usually held in large recirculating seawater tanks for live delivery. For the small fleet of catcher–processor vessels, retained crabs are processed and frozen onboard. King crab vessels fishing the Bering Sea usually exceed 100 feet in length. Smaller vessels are typical in Gulf of Alaska fisheries.

Red and blue king crabs are caught at depths less than 200 m, Tanner and snow crabs between 100 m and 200 m, golden king crabs and other deepwater crabs at depths 200 m to 1000 m and Dungeness crabs mostly at depths less than 20 m.

[Based on excerpts from the publication, Commercial Fisheries in Alaska, Woodby et al. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Special Publication 05-09, June 2005 (PDF - 1,059K). Information or data on this web page may have been updated and may no longer match the original publication.]

 

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Last updated: February 22, 2008