(Anchorage) - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is reducing the number of pots allowed to be used per person and per vessel in the 2024 Prince William Sound (PWS) noncommercial (sport and subsistence) shrimp pot fishery. This regulatory restriction is effective from 12:01 a.m. Monday, April 15 through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, September 15, 2024.

The pot limit per person and per vessel has been reduced to three pots; however, of those three pots only two pots can be set in areas of historical high effort including areas near the Port of Valdez, near the Port of Whittier, and in portions of Port Wells and Culross Passage (see map below). These areas of historically high effort make up the majority of the harvest in PWS and in these areas pots will be limited to only two pots per person and per vessel. Shrimpers that want to use three pots will have to travel further from the two PWS roadside ports of Valdez and Whittier. A map will also be provided with each permit for shrimpers to reference. Additionally, spare pots may be carried onboard a vessel participating in the noncommercial fishery. The noncommercial shrimp pot fishery is allocated 60% of the total allowable harvest limit while the commercial shrimp pot fishery receives 40%. In 2023, with a noncommercial guideline harvest level (GHL) of 94,700 pounds, the pot limit was reduced to two pots near the Port of Valdez and Whittier and three pots for the outer areas for the entire season and the estimated harvest was 71,492 pounds of shrimp. The noncommercial fishery harvest was 23,208 pounds below the GHL. In 2024, the noncommercial GHL is 70,214 pounds of shrimp.

"Pot limits for the 2024 season will remain the same as they were in the 2022 and 2023 seasons as harvest in 2023 is similar to the GHL for 2024. We have observed a decline in catch-per-unit-effort data and anticipate harvest to land at or just below the GHL in 2024," stated the Sport Fish Area Manager Brittany Blain-Roth.

The PWS noncommercial shrimp permits will be available online after March 15^th. All fishery participants are required to have a permit with them while shrimping. In addition, all permit harvest reports are due by Tuesday, October 15, 2024, regardless of whether you went shrimping or not. Participants may report their harvest online at any time, whether you have completed shrimping for the season or not. The total season’s harvest must be reported by the due date. Please look closely at the permit for additional details about pot limits and areas where only two pots are allowed.

In March 2022, the Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted the Failure to Report process for the Prince William Sound noncommercial shrimp fishery recognizing the importance of harvest reporting for this fishery and was implemented for the 2023 season. If shrimpers failed to report their harvest by the October 15, 2023 reporting deadline, they are ineligible for a permit in 2024. If shrimpers fail to report their harvest in 2024, they will be ineligible for a 2025 permit.

The commercial shrimp fishery rotates every year between three defined locations in PWS. This season the commercial fishery will be harvesting in Area 3 which is in the southwestern area of PWS and includes popular locations such as Icy Bay. For additional information about the commercial shrimp fishery for the PWS area, please see the commercial fisheries advisory announcements page.

As a reminder, the call for proposals is out for the Board of Fisheries 2024/2025 meeting cycle. The public may submit proposals until Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Prince William Sound shellfish will be taken up at the March 2025 Statewide Shellfish meeting in Anchorage. If interested, the public is encouraged to submit proposals or comments for this meeting regarding Prince William Sound shrimp.

For more information, please contact Area Management Biologist Brittany Blain-Roth 907-267-2186 or Assistant Area Management Biologist Donald Arthur at 907-267-2225. For additional information about the PWS subsistence and commercial shrimp pot fisheries, please contact Area Management Biologist Martin Schuster in Homer at (907) 235-8191.

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