Section 5 AAC 34.612 - Harvest levels for golden king crab in Registration Area O In accordance with 5 AAC 34.080, the Aleutian Islands Area golden king crab fishery shall be managed based on the following harvest strategy:
(a) In that portion of the Registration Area O east of 174° W. long., the total allowable catch level shall be established as follows: (1) if MMAE is less than 25 percent of MMAE(1985-2017), the fishery will not open;(2) if MMAE is at least 25 percent but not greater than 100 percent of MMAE(1985-2017), the number of legal male golden king crab available for harvest will be computed as (0.15) X (MMAE/MMAE(1985-2017))X (MMAE) or 25 percent of LMAE, whichever is less; and(3) if MMAE is greater than 100 percent of MMAE(1985-2017), the number of legal male golden king crab available for harvest will be computed as (0.15) x (MMAE) or 25 percent of LMAE, whichever is less.(b) In that portion of the Registration Area O west of 174° W. long., the total allowable catch level shall be established as follows: (1) if MMAW is less than 25 percent of MMAW(1985-2017), the fishery will not open;(2) if MMAW is at least 25 percent but not greater than 100 percent of MMAW(1985-2017), the number of legal male golden king crab available for harvest will be computed as (0.20) x (MMAW/MMAW(1985-2017))X (MMAW) or 25 percent of LMAW, whichever is less; and(3) if MMAW is greater than 100 percent of MMAW(1985-2017), the number of legal male golden king crab available for harvest will be computed as (0.20) x (MMAW) or 25 percent of LMAW, whichever is less.(c) In implementing this harvest strategy, the department shall consider the reliability of abundance estimates of golden king crab, the manageability of the fishery, and other factors the department determines necessary to manage consistent with sustained yield principles, and shall use the best scientific information available and consider all sources of uncertainty as necessary to avoid overfishing.(d) In this section, (1) MMAE means the abundance of male golden king crab in the portion of the Registration Aleutian Islands Management Area O east of 174° W. long., that are greater than or equal to 111 millimeters in carapace length estimated by the stock assessment model for the time prior to the start of the fishery;(2) MMAE(1985-2017) means the mean value of the abundance of male golden king crab in the portion of the Registration Aleutian Islands Management Area O east of 174° W. long., that are greater than or equal to 111 millimeters in carapace length estimated by the stock assessment model for the time prior to the start of the fishery for the period 1985 - 2017;(3) LMAE means the abundance of male golden king crab in the portion of the Registration Aleutian Islands Management Area O east of 174° W. long., that are greater than or equal to 136 millimeters in carapace length estimated by the stock assessment model for the time prior to the start of the fishery;(4) MMAW means the abundance of male golden king crab in the portion of the Registration Aleutian Islands Management Area O west of 174° W. long., that are greater than or equal to 111 millimeters in carapace length estimated by the stock assessment model for the time prior to the start of the fishery;(5) MMAW(1985-2017) means the mean value of the abundance of male golden king crab in the portion of the Registration Aleutian Islands Management Area O west of 174° W. long., that are greater than or equal to 111 millimeters in carapace length estimated by the stock assessment model for the time prior to the start of the fishery for the period 1985 - 2017;(6) LMAW means the abundance of male golden king crab in the portion of the Registration Aleutian Islands Management Area O west of 174° W. long that are greater than or equal to 136 millimeters in carapace length estimated by the stock assessment model for the time prior to the start of the fishery.Eff. 9/12/2008, Register 187; am 7/13/2012, Register 203; am 8/10/2018, Register 227, October 2018; am 6/28/2019, Register 230, May 2019