A Seattle-based crabbing industry association is announcing a bilateral agreement between the United States and Russia that targets illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
The Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers says the agreement was signed Friday as part of the 26th U.S.-Russia Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on Fisheries meeting in Portland, Oregon.
The crabbing group represents 70 percent of the crap harvesters in Alaska's Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands region. The association says the agreement signed Friday targets blatant poaching on the Russian side, which hurts not only the Alaska market but also legitimate Russian producers and citizens.
Association president Edward Poulsen says the Alaska crab industry has faced stiff market competition from illegally harvested Russian king crab for years, costing Alaska's crab industry about $600 million since 2000.