A unique fishery is offered in Homer for the first time, tanner crabs from small boat operators around Kodiak Island in a move meant to connect consumers directly to fishermen.
"You seldom see these available here, the biggest opilio crab caught. It really is meant to help out the small boat guys who do this little fishery in a sustainable way and subscribe to a conservation ethic," said Pete Wedin, a board member of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.
The council is offering Kodiak Tanner crab from a program called CATCH of the SEASON. It is modeled after a Community Supported Fishery and is the only one of its kind in the Anchorage area.
Individuals can pre-purchase boxes of the crab sustainably harvested by local fishermen and pick them up after the crab has been harvested. This is the third year AMCC has carried out the Kodiak crab program. This is the first time Homer will be included in the list of locations for pickup of crab boxes. All proceeds from the program benefit the work of AMCC in Kodiak and fishermen that participate in the program get a higher price for their catch than they would otherwise.
AMCC Executive Director Kelly Harrell said this crab is typically marketed as snow crab. Tanner crab is known for its sweet and rich flavor. Yet, Kodiak bairdi tanner crab are larger and meatier relatives of the more well-known opilio crab harvested in the Bering Sea and Canada.
The carefully managed Kodiak tanner crab fishery only occurs once a year during a short winter season that begins Jan. 15.
Read the full story at the Homer Tribune>>
Callifornia crabbing: Here's a fun video shot on the decks of the Majestik while catching Dungeness crab off the coast of northern California.
Over 500 lots of seafood processing equipment formerly owned by Adak Seafood will be sold at auction on Tuesday, June 18, starting at 10 a.m. Hawaiian-Aleutian Daylight Time at the Hilton Garden Inn in Anchorage Alaska.
The equipment is located in a recently updated 250,000 square foot state-of-the-art processing facility in Adak, Alaska. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Hilco Industrial, which conducts 75 machinery and equipment auctions in a wide range of industries annually, will conduct the auction.
Adak Seafood opened originally as Ada Fisheries in Anchorage in 1986. The facility, updated in 2005, is located on the island of Adak, the southernmost city in Alaska near the western end of the Aleutian Islands. The facility processed cod primarily, as well as halibut, blackcod, crab and pollock, Hilco says.
Alaska fisherman and commercial fisheries activist Kevin Adams was elected chairman at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute board of directors meeting on May 9 in Anchorage.
The governor-appointed board consists of seven members: five seafood processors and two industry representatives actively engaged in commercial fishing. Adams was appointed to fill a harvester seat by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004.
With 38 years of fishing experience in Bristol Bay, Adams has long been an active member in the Alaska fishing industry, ASMI says. He has worked for both the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation and the Bering Sea Fisherman's Association, and represents Alaska fishermen on numerous boards.
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