(Anchorage) – The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is reducing the allowable number of pots per person and per vessel and the length of the season in the 2026 Prince William Sound (PWS) noncommercial (sport and subsistence) shrimp pot fishery.

The 2026 shrimp season per person and per vessel pot limit has been reduced to two pots, and the open season has been reduced to May 1–June 8 for the entire Prince William Sound Management Area. A vessel is allowed to carry one additional spare pot onboard. The noncommercial shrimp pot fishery is allocated 60% of the total allowable harvest (TAH) limit, and the commercial shrimp pot fishery is allocated 40%. In 2025, with a noncommercial guideline harvest level (GHL) of 48,388 pounds, the pot limit was reduced to two pots and the season was reduced to May 1–July 31 and the estimated harvest was 54,311 pounds of shrimp. The noncommercial fishery harvest was 5,923 pounds (12%) over the GHL. In 2026, the noncommercial GHL is 29,782 pounds of shrimp (60% of the TAH).

“The pot limit for the 2026 season will again be two pots for all of Prince William Sound; however, the season is being reduced further. The noncommercial shrimp fishery will open May 1 and close June 9,” stated the Sport Fish Area Manager Brittany Blain-Roth. “We continue to be in a period of low productivity and declining biomass and therefore it is appropriate to manage the noncommercial fishery conservatively.”

The Alaska Board of Fisheries (BOF) met in March 2025 and discussed statewide shellfish, including PWS shrimp. Based on the triggers set by the BOF at the 2025 meeting, the commercial shrimp pot fishery is closed for 2026 because the population is below 40% of carrying capacity. For additional information about the commercial shrimp fishery for the PWS area, please see the commercial fisheries advisory announcements page.

All fishery participants are required to have a permit with them while shrimping. The PWS noncommercial shrimp permits will be available online after April 1st and all permit harvest reports are due by June 22, 2026, regardless of whether you went shrimping or not. Please note, this is a change in the reporting deadline from 30 days to two weeks. Participants may report their harvest online at any time and should note the change in the harvest reporting deadline due to the change in season length. Also, reporting daily online or on the ADF&G Mobile App is highly encouraged. If shrimpers fail to report their harvest by the reporting deadline, they will be ineligible for a permit in 2027.

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.

  pot-fishery, reduction, shrimp, subsistence