Fisheries
Prince William Sound crabfishing
Prince Williams Sound is seeing the start of a winter tanner crab fishery, its first in decades. Cordova sheries groups have pushed for the crab fishery for several years as a way to expand current harvesting, which is mostly seasonal. State fish and game biologists held off approving the fishery over concerns for the biological stock. Meanwhile, winter snow crab fishery in the Bering Sea is winding down. That got underway in mid-January.
***
Sitka prepares for herring season
Southeast fishermen are preparing for the season’s first herring fishery, which will open in Sitka in late March. The quota is set at 11,128 tons, down from 14,649 tons last year. Halibut fishing begins in late March, too.
***
Sport fish king salmon closures
State fish and game officials issued orders restricting king salmon sport fishing in the Susitna River and Little Susitna River drainages of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough as well as in northern Cook Inlet. That the Cook Inlet commercial fleet can still catch kings is causing heartburn among sport fishers.