ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — The Alaska red king crab fishery that's featured on the popular reality show, "Deadliest Catch," faces an uncertain start because of the federal government's partial shutdown, and a late opening could have costly implications in Japan.

National fisheries managers who are supposed to assign individual quotas for the multimillion-dollar harvest before its scheduled opening next week are among federal workers who have been furloughed.

Fishermen said Wednesday there is no time to waste in cashing in on the lucrative market in Japan, where the crab is highly prized for holiday celebrations — and that means getting the catch on the way to the island nation by mid-November.

Missing Japan's holiday season could mean a loss of up to $7 million.

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