Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report for the King and Tanner Crab Fisheries of the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Area: Economic Status of the BSAI King and Tanner Crab Fisheries off Alaska, 2017

The Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries managed under the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Fishery Management Plan (FMP) are currently (as of calendar year 2016) prosecuted by an active fleet of 116 catcher vessels and two catcher processors, and landed and processed at 12 processing facilities throughout the region. Of the 10 crab stocks and 11 fisheries managed under the FMP1, seven fisheries were open to targeted fishing in 2016. After closure for the 2010/11 through 2012/13 seasons, the Bering Sea Tanner (BST) crab fisheries opened for targeted fishing for 2013/14 through 2015/16 seasons, but were subsequently closed for the 2016/17 2 season. Pribilof Islands red and blue king, and Western Aleutian red king crab stocks are currently designated overfished, as detailed in the assessments for these stocks. The Saint Matthew blue king (SMB) crab fishery was closed for the 2013/14 season under the State of Alaska’s management strategy, reopened for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, and closed again for 2016/17.

This report provides a comprehensive presentation of available information on status and trends in a variety of indicators of economic status and performance of BSAI crab fisheries through 2016 calendar year operations. The following summary focuses on three sets of primary economic indicators for these fisheries over the most recent five years: gross volume and value of production in harvesting and processing sectors; direct employment and labor earnings in each sector; and crab harvest quota leasing activity and royalty rates. The full report provides expanded time-series and more detailed information regarding crab production, sales, revenue, and price indices in the harvesting and processing sectors; income, employment, and demographics of labor in both sectors; vessel operating costs and indices of financial performance and rent distribution at the median vessel-level and for the active fleet in aggregate; annual crab harvesting and processing quota lease market volume and royalty rates, volume and pricing in the harvest and processing quota share market, and indicators of ownership composition in crab quota pools, including concentration, demographics, and entry/exit; capacity and capital productivity in crab harvesting and processing sectors; and U.S. imports and exports of king and Tanner crab.