Why do we care?
The blue king crab has supported valuable commercial fisheries in the Bering Sea, concentrated around the Pribilof Islands and St. Matthew Island. The most recent peak occurred in 1997, when the total landings of BKC were 5.2 million lbs, valued at $12.0 million, of which $1.5 million represented landings in the Pribilofs. Both St. Matthew and the Pribilofs had historically supported valuable fisheries, with peak landings >8 million lbs. While such high levels were unusual, the long term average landings for the years prior to 1985 were 3.7 and 3.2 million lbs for the Pribilofs and St. Matthew, respectively. However, the St. Matthew stock declined precipitously in 1999 and was subsequently declared "overfished" according to stipulations in the Magnusen-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. That fishery has been closed since then. Population declines at St. Matthew and the Pribilof Islands occurred almost simultaneously in the early 1980's and late 1990's. The Pribilof Islands stock has been declining since 1995, and was declared "overfished" in 2002. Fisheries for BKC in the Pribilofs were closed from 1988-94, and again from 1999 to the present; during the interim from 1994-1999, fisheries were conducted at about 50% of the previous harvest rate.

Concerns

• Inhabitants of the Pribilof Islands are highly dependent on local fisheries such as BKC, and their community has suffered economic displacement as a result of these fisheries closures. They have a long-term, vested economic and cultural interest in the conservation and stewardship of these resources.
• Members of the commercial crab industry have lost income because of the declines and subsequent closures.
• Members of the environmental community have concerns about the ecological causes and implications of changes in crab abundance.

• Adult female BKC live primarily in the rocky nearshore areas around the Pribilof Islands and St. Matthew Island, whereas males tend to be farther offshore.
• Trawling for groundfish has been prohibited in the nearshore area surrounding the Pribilof Islands since 1994, so no bycatch of crab has occurred there in 8 years.
• Red king crab have historically been caught primarily as bycatch in the BKC fishery, and no directed fishing for RKC or Tanner crab has occurred in the Pribilofs district since 1998.
• The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has undertaken a crab rebuilding plan for several species of crab in the Bering Sea, including BKC.
• Several research projects are underway to determine the causes of declines in crab populations, including research into crab habitat.

• Fishing interactions
• Natural factors that affect survival in the first year of life; in their first few years of life BKC are restricted to limited habitats around the Pribilof Islands that are critical to their survival.