Tasty Alaskan crab meat
An American favorite for many years Alaskan crab meat is a big hit with almost everyone.
You may not know it but there are seven commercially fished species which we can find in our supermarkets and stores in the U.S. These are the Red King Crab, Blue King Crab, Golden King Crab, Tanner Crab, Snow Crab, Hair Crab and Dungeness crab. Alaskan king crab legs are amongst the most prized shellfish meat in the world with the Alaskan Red King Crab being the most sought after.
There are 3 other species not important commercially which are usually considered as bycatch and these are the Grooved Tanner Crab, Triangle Tanner Crab and Scarlet King Crab.
The Alaskan crab industry has been on a rollercoaster ride.
It has been suggested this may have been due to many issues such as overharvesting, unusual climate conditions or even the unintentional bycatch of adult crabs from other fisheries.
Tanner crab was harvested first in the Bering Sea as bycatch in the 1968 red king crab fishery. In the 1977 to 78 season the harvest reached its highest level of 66.6 million pounds. However by 1984, the harvest had dropped dramatically to 1.2 million pounds and in 1986 to 87 the Tanner Crab fishery was closed. Now the Tanner Crab has fortunately bounced back slightly in population size and so this crab is being caught commercially again but at a more sustainable level.
Snow crabs are another Alaskan crab that has also taken a sharp decline in their population. The late 1970’s was about 32 million pounds and increased to 328 million pounds in 1991 however since then the harvest has declined sharply to just over 22 million pounds in 2004
It’s important to remember to try and buy crab from a sustainable and well managed fishery such as we have now in Alaska. For instance King crab that is not caught in the United States should be avoided by responsibly minded consumers recommend the Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch Program. Instead read the label and make sure it’s from Alaskan Waters and it helps support our local industry.
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