Alaska crabbers could receive $300 million in federal disaster relief after the state suspended the 2022 harvest season for the first time in history over a rapidly declining snow crab population.
The U.S. Senate last week approved the funding for fishery disasters in a massive $1.7 trillion omnibus bill for 2023.
On Dec. 23, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo declared six fishery disasters for Alaska and Washington, marking the first step toward securing relief funding.
Jamie Goen, executive director for the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers (ABSC), a trade association representing independent crabbers, said the disaster aid package is a “great start for much-needed money to help fishermen and communities pay their bills.”
In a statement, Goen said, “We commend the Secretary of Commerce, [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] NOAA Fisheries, and members of Congress—particularly the Alaska and Washington delegations—for their swift action and attention to this issue affecting so many hard-working Americans and family fishing businesses.”
The announcement followed the October cancellation of the 2022 Bristol Bay snow crab harvest when trawl surveys revealed an unprecedented 90 percent drop in the crab population from 8 billion to 1 billion.
The Bering Sea red king crab situation was no less challenging, prompting Alaska Fish and Game to call off the 2022 harvest season for the second time in two years due to low crab numbers.
In a statement, the ABSC said, “When your whole business and community relies on a renewable natural resource that disappears, how do you move forward?”
“First, you reach out for immediate financial relief to weather the crisis. Then, you figure out what needs to be done to bring the resource back.
“Finally, you start figuring out how to diversify and adapt as fast as possible. Alaska’s Bering Sea crab fishermen and crab-dependent fishing communities are doing just that while still working through the initial shock and grief that comes with loss.
The trade association said the $300 million in disaster relief should help these industries survive and fund research to prevent future market challenges.
“For Alaska’s Bering Sea crab fisheries, the speed that this recent disaster was both declared and funded is refreshing in a process that often takes 2–4 years before the money reaches fishermen,” according to the ABSC. “These first steps in the process happened in a record time of only two months.
“Crabbers are hopeful the progress with government agencies to streamline and speed up the various stages of this process will continue to get financial relief distributed quickly to those fishermen, processors, and communities in need.”
According to NOAA, in 2020, commercial harvests of Alaska snow crab exceeded 36 million pounds with a total value of nearly $102 million.
An emergency petition before the Secretary of Commerce would create a temporary location prohibiting the use of fishing gear between January and June 2023, when crabs are molting or mating, to replenish fisheries.
“At the same time the government is working hard to provide financial relief from these fisheries disasters, they also need to be working hard on management actions to reduce the likelihood of future fishery disasters,” the ABSC added.
Through immediate financial relief, continued research, and conservation, “Alaska’s crab stocks will recover, and our fishermen and fishing communities along with it.”
