Alaska cancels snow crab season due to sustainability concerns

by Jack Birle, Breaking News Reporter 
October 15, 2022 

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Monday the Bering Sea Snow Crab Season would be canceled for this winter, after concerns over the species population.

After an analysis of survey of the species from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the ADF&G, both agencies decided to keep the species closed to fishing for the 2022-2023 season.

"ADF&G appreciates and carefully considered all input from crab industry stakeholders prior to making this decision. Understanding crab fishery closures have substantial impacts on harvesters, industry, and communities, ADF&G must balance these impacts with the need for long-term conservation and sustainability of crab stocks. Management of Bering Sea snow crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the condition of the stock," the department said in a statement.

The news comes on the heals of the department announcing the Bristol Bay Red King Crab Season had been canceled.

The canceled season come as the waters in Bering Sea are warming significantly. The snow crab harvest for the 2021-2022 season was the smallest in more than 40 year, at only 5.6 million pounds.

Officials are searching for answers on how to solve the issue of declining population, with an estimated one billion snow crab disappearing in the past two year, per CBS News.

State officials are optimistic they can find a remedy to support sustainability and conservation, but until that time the fishing seasons are on hold.

Alaskan Snow Crab Season Canceled After 90% Of Population Disappears

The fate of the animals is "a canary in a coal mine for other species that need cold water," one researcher said.

Hilary Hanson
Oct 15, 2022

For the first time in history, Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game has canceled the state’s winter snow crab season due to a shocking plummet in the crustacean’s numbers.

Between 2019 and 2021, researchers “saw the largest decline we’ve ever seen in the snow crab population, which was very startling,” department biologist Miranda Westphal told Alaska Public Media in the wake of Monday’s cancellation.

The department made the decision based on data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, which conducts an annual survey of the population in the eastern Bering Sea. In just two years, the animals’ numbers in the area dropped by about 90% — amounting to an estimated 1 billion crabs, CBS News reported.

Freshly caught snow crabs in Japan in 2020.
BUDDHIKA WEERASINGHE VIA GETTY IMAGES

Scientists are investigating what caused the crabs to vanish. Climate change is a likely culprit.

“Snow crabs are an Arctic species,” Westphal told The New York Times on Friday, adding that in previous years of warming water in the Bering Sea, “the snow crab population kind of huddled together in the coolest water they could find.”

In higher temperatures, the crabs have a metabolic need for more oxygen, according to Gizmodo. But warmer water also holds less oxygen, leading to a perilous situation for animals adapted to colder environments. Warmer temperatures have also been known to drive disease among marine life.

Fish and Game Department researcher Ben Daly told CBS that the crabs are “a canary in a coal mine for other species that need cold water.”

This week’s news is not only a severe warning sign about the Arctic ecosystem, but a major economic blow. Alaska has also canceled its king crab fishing season for the second consecutive year due to low population numbers.

Gabriel Prout, who owns a fishing business with his family, told Alaska Public Media that those who depend on the crabbing industry are “going to have to make some hard calls” about what to do next.

“Fishermen are really going to be hurting the next year,” he said.