Bairdi Landings Outpacing Opilio in Alaska as Potential Quota Cap Issue Resolved
Bering Sea commercial crab fishermen are catching Tanners -known by their market name of Bairdi- at a faster pace than snow crab, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Unalaska. As of Monday, fishermen caught 62 percent of the eastern Bering Sea Tanner crab quota, and 53 percent in the west, but only 19 percent of the snow crab quota. Meanwhile, emergency action by the NPFMC this month should allow for all the Tanners to be processed. The rule was issued after Icicle Seafood withdrew from the fishery and left just three buyers for the crab; this required a waiver for the remaining buyers to get Icicle’s share.
Long John Silver’s expects to sell 22 million pieces of fish during the 2016 Lenten season, which begins on next week on February 9 and runs through March 24. “Lent is our Super Bowl,” said James O’Reilly, Long John Silver’s CEO. “For our franchisees and company operators, it is our most important season.”
In other news early reports suggest A season Pollock roe production is off to a slow start. Boats appear to be catching small sized Pollock, which are producing 54 percent standard grade and 45 percent off grade roe. As of January 23rd, NMFS reported 143 tons of roe processed by the pollock fleet.
Finally, Russian plans to catch 41,500 metric ton of Opilio crab in the Far East this year. The figure is slightly over last season’s total. Opilio, or snow crab, accounts for nearly 60 percent of Russia’s commercial crab catch.
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