Alaska cancels snow crab season for first time after population collapse

Washington post ^ | 10/15/22

[EBH]

Alaska will cancel the upcoming winter snow crab season in the Bering Sea for the first time, and bar fishers from catching king crabs in the Bristol Bay for a second consecutive year, because of a sharp decline in their estimated population.

This week’s announcements by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game deal a severe blow to fishers that make a living off the crabs. They also bring back to the forefront questions about the role of climate change in the rapid decline of the snow crab population: The number of juvenile snow crabs was at record highs just a few years ago, before some 90 percent of snow crabs mysteriously disappeared ahead of last season.

Alaskan officials said they had consulted carefully with stakeholders before canceling the season. They said they were aware of the impact of the closures on “harvesters, industry, and communities” but that they had to balance economic needs with conservation.

Salmon travel deep into the Pacific. As it warms, many ‘don’t come back.’ “These are truly unprecedented and troubling times for Alaska’s iconic crab fisheries,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, a trade association that says it represents some 70 percent of local crab harvesters, in a statement. “Second and third generation crab-fishing families will go out of business due to the lack of meaningful protections by decision-makers to help crab stocks recover.”

[EBH]

Too bad.

[mikelets456]

So they somehow know that thousands of square miles of ocean doesn’t have enough crabs but they know it’s climate change causing it. It sounds as if they’re causing a shortage on purpose while pushing props!

[DUMBGRUNT]

—”My guess is none of it is fact based and this is just more commie infestation of state and or fed agencies to destroy small independent business.”

With just one or two “insiders” adjusting the numbers slightly...

[Carriage Hill]

Ah, I never liked crab, anyway...

(((Hells Bells, I LOVE crab!)))

[chopperk]

Climate change has nothing to do with the collapse. The fools have over harvested the population because the Game and Fish Departments did not do their jobs. The harvesters over worked what Nature gave them.

[tlozo]

. The fools have over harvested the population because the Game and Fish Departments did not do their jobs. The harvesters over worked what Nature gave them.

US is not the problem. Russia has a massive illegal crab harvesting problem.

A FREQUENTZ WHITE PAPER:

ILLEGALLY HARVESTED CRAB HURTS US INDUSTRY AND ECONOMY

The Nature of the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Problem Black and Grey

“Black” and “grey” fleets are two distinct types of illegal fishing vessels that one can find in Russian waters. Black fleet fishermen, also referred to as pirate fishermen, are vessels that have no licenses to fish in Russian waters and blatantly violate their sovereignty by fishing without permits. The fish product captured by these vessels is most commonly offloaded in ports in Korea and Japan via transshipment, circumventing Russian authorities altogether. Transshipment entails the transfer of fish that have been caught at sea illegally to large vessels that act as floating, chilled storage tanks and are far away from the purview of Russian authorities. These vessels are normally registered with the nationality of countries known as “Flags of Convenience” because of their lax laws and oversight of vessels. Such countries also make it easier for pirate vessels to access an otherwise legitimate registration.

Industry news coverage of seizures of black fishing vessels caught poaching in Russian waters is reasonably frequent, though the degree to which these efforts make a dent in the total amount of illegal activity is unclear. Interestingly, the seizures covered in the news most frequently identify the crew and captain of these pirate fishing vessels as being Russian, even though they are operating vessels flagged to foreign countries. A 2014 World Wildlife Federation (WWF) report noted one such example. ”In September 2014, a vessel flagged in the Republic of Togo named Katraps attempted to evade a Russian Border Patrol vessel...Upon inspection, Katraps contained fragments of crab, was equipped to transport live crab, yet had no documentation or permission to fish within the Russia’s EEZ. Katraps was crewed by 13 people – 11 Russians and 2 Ukrainians – and the ship owner was registered in Belize. The vessel was impounded in the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.” Incidents such as this one could indicate a possible association of the pirate fishing industry with Russian-based organized crime organizations—another layer to this illegal fishing issue that has yet to be fully revealed.

Grey market illegal fishing techniques are those where Russian-flagged fishing vessels and companies that are otherwise legally licensed and entitled to fish in Russian waters circumvent the law. One example of this is when licensed Russian fishing fleets significantly exceed their allowable catch quota, and then comingle the illegal product with legally caught fish. These exports from Russia are integrated into the global supply chain and further comingled with legal product as it is processed and exported to the United States and other countries, using an inherently non-transparent global supply chain system to its advantage.

As already described, the influx of this illegal product into the global market has a direct negative impact on U.S. fishermen and the U.S. economy. For example, in 2011 there was a 25% decline in the price U.S. king crab fishermen received as a result of illegal crab entering U.S. market. This decline has further downstream effects of decreasing the tax revenue and additional market impacts that this $82.9 million industry contributes to the U.S. economy. Fortunately, some governments have recently adopted regulations to help prevent illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including separate Japanese and South Korean policies that prevent undocumented crab from passing through the country. In the past, this was a common method of grey-washing crab to blur the origin

http://frequentz.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FQZ_WhitePaper_PoachedCrab.pdf

[Liz]

Crab Bisque

You can make the base of the soup up to 3 days ahead then add crab at serving.

INGREDIENTS 3 tbsp. butter 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 stalks celery, finely chopped salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 tbsp. tomato pureé 3 tbsp. flour 1 l fish stock (or low-sodium vegetable stock) 240 ml dry white wine 1 bay leaf 120 ml double cream 450 g lump crab meat Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS In a large, heavy pot over medium heat, heat butter. Add onion and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and Old Bay, then stir in garlic and tomato paste. Cook until garlic is fragrant and tomato paste coats vegetables, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle over flour and cook until absorbed, 1 minute more. Pour in seafood stock and wine, then stir in bay leaf. Reduce heat and let simmer until liquid is reduced and flavours meld, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

Remove bay leaf.....immersion blender on high until very smooth. Return to med low heat....stir in double cream and half of crab meat, warm through 5 minutes. Divide among bowls and garnish with remaining crab meat and parsley before serving.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“So they somehow know that thousands of square miles of ocean doesn’t have enough crabs but they know it’s climate change causing it.”

I’m trying to figure out how our tax dollars going to third world dictators and the WEF will bring the crabs back. If crabs eat dollar bills we should be good since we are printing them at a record pace.

[TalBlack]

What we’re those snow crab or king crab like things that we saw on a thread maybe two years ago that were swarming everywhere and growing seemingly out of control ?

[Flint]

I'm not a crab fisherman nor do I play one on TV.

That being said, I have seen many episodes of Deadliest Catch. Many times the crab boat goes out to an area that they have been catching crabs for the last decade or so and doesn't get one crab in the pots. Moves to another area and fills the boat up in jig time. Who's to say where the things are right now? Perhaps the government is looking in the wrong place.

[Striperman]

Agree, on deadliest catch you see the american crabbers chasing out the russian boats from american waters.

[cgbg]

It is almost impossible to find a kleptocrat owned mass media outlet article without claims of “climate change” or attacks on President Trump or his supporters.

Last year at this time I would have added pro vaxx lecturing to the list.

These folks are convinced if they lie loud enough and often enough they can brainwash the masses.

[cgbg]

Map says Russia (formerly Soviet Union).

Perhaps future maps will say Woke Pervert-land (formerly United States).

:-(

[P.O.E.]

Best she-crab soup is Frenchy’s in Clearwater FL

[bert]

Ooops Pronouns please

That must be It Crab Soup

[Liz]

Thanks for the travel tip.

[tlozo]

Alaska cancels snow crab season for first time after population collapse

This years snow crab season cancellation comes on top of two years of cancellations of fall red king crab harvest. With Russians catching all they can, I think the US crab fleet is toast.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game canceled all opilio snow, red king crab, and blue king crab seasons for 2022-2023

https://kutv.com/news/nation-world/alaska-cancels-snow-crab-season-as-estimated-1-billion-crabs-disappear-department-of-fish-and-game-opilio-red-blue-king-2022-2023-trawl-survey-fishery-limited-supply-harvest

[dennisw]

Much of our King and Snow crab comes or came from American trawlers.....I don’t know the current situation. As seen on the Deadliest Catch on TV

Both crabs can migrate. Perhaps too many American crabs migrated into the Russian waters of the Bering Sea.

[RckyRaCoCo]

Soup Nazi: Bread, two dollars extra.

[dennisw]

Thanks for the info! Damn lawless Russkies again!