USA: February crab and halibut catch updates; Copper River sockeye forecast falls flat

Frigid February fishing in Alaska features crabbing from the Panhandle to the Bering Sea, followed in March by halibut, black cod and herring., Crabbers throughout Southeast will drop pots for Tanners on February 11 and they’re expecting one of the best seasons ever. Fishery managers said they are seeing “historically high levels” of Tanner crab with good recruitment coming up from behind., The catch limit won’t be set until the fishery is underway but last year’s take was 1.27 million pounds (504,369 crabs), which weigh 2.5 pounds on average. Crabbers know they will fetch historically high prices based on the recent pay-out for westward region Tanners., Prices to fishermen at Kodiak, Chignik and the South Peninsula reached a jaw dropping $8.50/lb for the week-long fishery that ended in late January and produced 1.8 million pounds of good looking crab., Back at Southeast, crabbers also can concurrently pull up golden king crabs starting on February 11. The harvest limit is 75,300 ...