Alaska has canceled snow crab season after a catastrophic population crash of the sizable crustaceans.
Jean-Erick Pasquier / Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesFor the first time, crews in Alaska won’t be braving ice and sea spray to pluck snow crab from the Bering Sea.after a catastrophic population crash of the sizable crustaceans. The red king crab season was canceled for the second year in a row, making it a two-pronged disaster for Alaska’s economy and for those whose livelihoods rely on crab.
that spiked in 2019. Miranda Westphal, an area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the warmer waters likely contributed to young crabs’ starvation and the stock’s decline.Officials hope a halt to this year’s crab harvest will boost both species. At this point, little more can be done.
The snow crab collapse came as a surprise. Each season, commercial trawlers complete surveys that estimate species abundance and assess stock. The National Marine Fisheries Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game co-manage the crab fisheries.
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