KODIAK -- Kodiak and Alaska Peninsula crabbers got some good news last week -- bigger catch quotas for bairdi Tanner crab, a mid-January fishery important to local economies. Bairdi are the larger cousins of the better-known opilio Tanners, or snow crab.

The bairdi boost stems from a big pulse of new crab recruits that biologists have been tracking for years.

"That is what's fueling the increase in the harvest this year. We're just getting the very beginning of that year class," said Nick Sagalkin, regional manager at the state Department of Fish and Game in Kodiak.

It takes five to six years for crabs to mature to market size, and only male crabs are taken. Sagalkin said the Tanner resurgence is looking even better than expected around Kodiak and southward.

With crab, it is the appearance of the shells that sells.

"Most of these crab should be new shell, very nice, clean-looking crab," Sagalkin predicted.

"That's really positive news," said market expert John Sackton. "The key to the traditional bairdi market in Japan is that when it is clean and large and bright-colored, it's a wonderful premium crab product and people are very excited to get it."

Sackton cautioned that the lack of volume could dampen sales interest in Japan but said more niche markets are eager to buy bairdi Tanner crab.

Kodiak crabbers usually average above $2 a pound for their Tanners, with Alaska Peninsula crab fetching about a dollar less. The Kodiak 2010 crab harvest is set at 700,000 pounds, up from 500,000. Chignik remains closed, and the Alaska Peninsula crab quota is a half-million pounds, up from 275,000, with the eastern section opening for the first time in a decade.

Nick Sagalkin predicts Tanner crab will be a good fishery for years to come.

Red kings wrap up

Less than three weeks into the fishery, the fleet of 70 boats targeting Bristol Bay red king crab had taken more than half of its 16-million-pound quota. That is slightly behind last year's pace, when 77 boats were dropping pots, said regional manager Forrest Bowers at Fish and Game in Dutch Harbor.

The shell quality is good, Bowers said, but the crabs are slightly smaller, averaging just over six pounds. Fishermen are getting an advance price of $4.40 a pound for king crab, down from $5 a pound last year. The Bristol Bay fishery will likely end around Thanksgiving.

Go Expo

Longtime fisherman and fisheries advocate Linda Behnken of Sitka will be recognized as a Highliner of the Year by National Fisherman at the Pacific Marine Expo this month in Seattle. Behnken "understands the intimate connection between communities and ecosystems," said editor Jerry Fraser in announcing the honor.

Now in its 41st year, Expo is going stronger than ever, said organizer Bob Callahan, and neither the Internet nor the global recession has cut into the annual event.

Expo is set for Nov. 19-21 at the Qwest Center in Seattle. Find the full lineup and preregister at pacificmarineexpo.com.

Laine Welch is a Kodiak-based fisheries journalist. Her Fish Radio programs can be heard on stations around the state. Her information column appears every other Sunday. This material is protected by copyright. For information on reprinting or placing on your Web site or newsletter, contact msfish@alaska.com.

ADVERTISEMENT