Commercial crab fishing in Alaska spans vessel fleets, shore-based plants, quota leasing, and several distinct crab fisheries. In 2021, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab fisheries landed 51.2 million pounds, generated $297 million in aggregate ex-vessel revenue, and produced 33 million pounds of finished crab products. More recent NOAA Fisheries figures show a much smaller 2024 commercial king crab harvest and no commercial Alaska snow crab landings that year.
Contents
- BSAI fleet and industry scale
- Landings and finished products
- Revenue and crab prices
- Quota leasing and operating participation
- Processing employment and wages
- Recent Alaska landings and fishery status
- Crab biomass estimates
BSAI fleet and industry scale
The 2022 Alaska Crab SAFE Report describes an active 2021 BSAI fleet of 65 catcher vessels and two catcher processors. Those fisheries landed and processed crab at eight facilities across the region. The fleet and plant figures describe the operating footprint for the 2021 season, while the financial and production totals below describe the same BSAI group of fisheries.
The report recorded 51.2 million pounds of aggregate ex-vessel landings, equivalent to 23.1 thousand metric tons. That total was 20% higher than the 2020 total. Allowable catch quantities in all BSAI crab fisheries open to targeted fishing were fully exploited, with more than 98% of total allocation landed in 2021.
The 2021 BSAI processing sector produced 33 million pounds of finished crab products, or 15.1 thousand metric tons. Finished-product output was 20% higher than in the previous year. The difference between landed pounds and finished-product pounds reflects the distinction between ex-vessel catch and processed output; the two measurements should not be treated as interchangeable.
Landings and finished products
The Bristol Bay snow crab (BSS) fishery accounted for 44 million pounds of 2021 catch, about 20 thousand metric tons. BSS catch was 32% higher than in 2020. Its finished-product volume reached nearly 29 million pounds, about 13 thousand metric tons, and was 31% higher than the previous year.
The Aleutian Islands golden king crab (AIG) fishery landed nearly 6 million pounds in 2021. AIG finished-product volume reached 3.8 million pounds, equivalent to 2.0 thousand metric tons, and was 3% higher than the previous year.
The Bristol Bay red king crab (BST) fishery landed about 1 million pounds. Its finished-product volume reached 650 thousand pounds, or 294 metric tons, and was 53% higher than the previous year. The reported fishery-level figures can be compared compactly as follows.
| 2021 fishery | Landed catch | Finished product | Change in finished product |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSS | 44 million lb (about 20,000 mt) | Nearly 29 million lb (about 13,000 mt) | 31% higher year over year |
| AIG | Nearly 6 million lb | 3.8 million lb (2,000 mt) | 3% higher year over year |
| BST | About 1 million lb | 650,000 lb (294 mt) | 53% higher year over year |
All figures in this table come from the 2022 Alaska Crab SAFE Report and refer to 2021 activity. Rounded wording such as “nearly” and “about” is retained because the source reports the measurements at that precision.
Revenue and crab prices
Aggregate BSAI ex-vessel revenue reached $297 million in 2021, 36% higher than in 2020. Aggregate first-wholesale revenue reached $372 million, 31% higher than the prior year. Ex-vessel revenue reflects the value at the point of sale from harvesters, while first-wholesale revenue is measured later in the processing and marketing chain.
Prices also rose in the fisheries reported separately. BSS ex-vessel price increased 21% in 2021 to $4.96 per landed pound. BSS first-wholesale price reached $9.94 per pound, 12% higher than the prior year.
BST ex-vessel price increased 30% to $5.55 per pound. Its first-wholesale price increased 3% to $11.91 per pound. In the AIG fishery, ex-vessel price increased 61%, from $7.60 to $12.20 per pound. AIG average first-wholesale price increased 36%, from $15.04 to $20.42 per pound.
These price measures are fishery-specific and use different points in the commercial chain. The reported percentage changes therefore describe changes in the named price series, not a single industry-wide price.
Quota leasing and operating participation
Quota leasing was reported across several BSAI fisheries in 2021. In BSS, 49 of the 51 vessels leasing quota reported A-share lease costs. Thirty-nine BSS vessels reported B-share leasing costs, and 33 reported crew-share leasing costs.
Total leased quota volume in BSS was 3.54 million pounds. That represented 80% of total ex-vessel pounds landed in the fishery in 2021, compared with 77% in the prior year. The reported 80% is a share of BSS landed pounds, not a share of all BSAI landings.
Across the crab fisheries, 17 of 25 BST vessels active in 2021 reported leased quota costs. The SAFE report notes a range from 30 vessels with leasing costs in 2018 to 17 of 25 active vessels in 2021. Because the earlier figure and the 2021 figure are presented with different denominators, they should be read as reported participation counts rather than as a directly comparable percentage series.
Community Development Quota (CDQ) leasing was generally reported by only two to three AIG vessels over time, by 11 or fewer BSS vessels, and by five to eight BBR vessels. These are broad reported ranges over time rather than 2021-only counts.
Processing employment and wages
Shore-based crab processing operations employed 1,139 salaried and other non-processing workers in 2021, according to the 2022 Alaska Crab SAFE Report. The median number of non-processing workers per plant was 180.
Wage and salary expenditures for those non-processing workers totaled $59.3 million in 2021. The employment measure covers non-processing workers in shore-based operations; it does not represent the total number of vessel crew, processing workers, or every job associated with commercial crab fishing.
Together, the plant count, median staffing figure, and wage total show the scale of shore-based activity connected to the 2021 crab season. The median of 180 workers per plant is a midpoint measure across plants, so it should not be multiplied by eight facilities to infer total employment.
Recent Alaska landings and fishery status
NOAA Fisheries reported that 2024 commercial landings of all king crab in Alaska totaled 8 million pounds and were valued at $96 million. These figures cover all Alaska king crab identified by NOAA Fisheries for 2024, rather than the narrower BSAI 2021 aggregate used in the earlier sections.
NOAA Fisheries also reported no commercial landings of Alaska snow crab in 2024 because the commercial fishery was closed. The agency reported that observers are required on 20% of vessels in the Alaska snow crab fishery. NOAA Fisheries gave 2029 as the target date for the Alaska snow crab rebuilding plan.
The 2024 king crab landing and value figures should therefore be kept separate from the 2021 BSAI production and revenue figures. They describe a different year and a different grouping of crab fisheries. The snow crab closure is a status statement for 2024, not a forecast of future landings.
Crab biomass estimates
The 2022 eastern Bering Sea survey estimated mature male snow crab biomass at 20,403 metric tons and mature female snow crab biomass at 20,941 metric tons. Compared with 2021, the 2022 estimates were 22% lower for mature males and 33% lower for mature females.
The same preliminary survey results estimated mature male biomass for all Alaska crab stocks at 64,894 metric tons in 2022. Within that broader total, legal male snow crab biomass was approximately 33,447 metric tons, 44% lower than in 2021. Estimated legal male Bristol Bay red king crab biomass was approximately 18,060 metric tons in 2022.
These are survey-based biomass estimates, not landed catch totals. Biomass describes the estimated stock quantity in the survey context, while commercial landings describe the quantity harvested. The 2022 eastern Bering Sea survey estimates also precede the 2024 NOAA Fisheries status figures, so the measurements should not be combined into one same-year series.