For a time during the mid-to late 1970s, Kodiak Island waters teamed with red king crab. Kodiak itself became the centre of a crab fishing bonanza. At its peak in 1980, fishermen harvested more than 130 million pounds of crab worth about $115 million. Fortunes were made, but the boom soon went bust. By 1982, crab stocks had collapsed and the fishery all but disappeared. Decades of fishing restrictions since have failed to return crab populations to anything close to what they were in their heyday.

Brian Allee, director of the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, said the time is right to try something new. Allee is leading the Alaska Sea Grant effort to bring fishermen, state and federal fishery managers, and university scientists together in a collaborative effort to breed king crab in captivity. If it proves successful, Allee said, researchers would seek state permits to conduct a pilot release of juvenile crab to learn whether crab cultured in captivity can survive in the wild.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish FISHupdate magazine, Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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