Alaska Bering Sea Snow Crab TAC Slashed 50% to 21.5 Million Pounds; Lowest in 45 Years  The Alaska Dept of Fish and Game announced that the Bering Sea Snow Crab Fishery would open, but with the lowest harvest TAC in 45 years. The fishery will open October 15th with a TAC of 21.570 million pounds. The TAC set for the fishery this year clearly shows that the survey data was barely above the minimum legal threshold to have a crab season writes John Sackton. With snow crab prices already at record levels there is no prospect that the crab fleet will make up the cut in revenue through increases in price Sackton adds. "The extreme cutbacks in Alaska at a time when stocks elsewhere are also under pressure is going to create a real headache for buyers in both the US and Japan," Sackton said. A recent wave of shellfish harvest closures and recalls in Maine is a result of the state's first ever major outbreak of a toxic domoic acid bloom. The Department of Marine Resources isn’t sure what triggered the bloom, how long it will last, or what other species might be affected. This week it started precautionary testing on quahog, Jonah and rock crabs, urchin, whelk and lobster in the affected area. Some recent mussels and clams showed domoic acid levels five times above the level considered safe for human consumption. “A closure for this toxin in eastern Maine is unprecedented, that is not anything anyone has ever seen,” said Darcie Couture, a Brunswick marine scientist and former head of the state’s marine biotoxin program. “No one on this coast is that experienced with a domoic acid event. I don’t think it is sinking in how serious this is.” In other news, NMFS reopened Hawaii's commercial bigeye tuna fishing in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Hawaii Longline Association President Sean Martin said vessels more than 24 meters long can now fish east or west of the 150 degrees W line. The bigeye season for Hawaii longliners is busiest between October and April. “It was a lot of work for the agency, but leaving 250 metric tons of bigeye in the water with 30 boats unable to fish was a significant hardship on 20 percent of the Hawaii fleet," Martin said, "and we worked with the Long Beach (Calif.) office (of NMFS) to open it back up." Meanwhile, opposition is mounting among Japanese seafood vendors and their customers over the eventual relocation of the famed Tsukiji Fish Market to a new site in Toyosu. The chief concern for many is the ongoing pollution problem plaguing the site. Contractors failed to clear contaminated soil and elevate the site. Instead, basements were installed, which are now filling up with contaminated water. Additionally, the location of the site is not as accessible, which has many vendors worried that they will lose customers. Finally, Dr. Ray Hilborn opposes the recent political push to designate marine protected areas (MPA) in US and other international waters. He argues against their effectiveness in improving fish stocks, and like other opponents says the MPAs cripple commercial fishing businesses without scientific justification. "MPAs should be established where the problems are, not where it is politically expedient. A race to see who has the biggest or the most is running in the wrong direction," Hilborn says. Have a great weekend.