Why Did 11 Billion Alaskan Snow Crabs Suddenly Disappear?

Earlier this month, Alaska announced that it had canceled the entire snow crab harvest for the year. The news heralded a catastrophic population collapse for the animals, in which nine out of ten died out between 2018 to 2021. It’s a terrible development for those who make a living harvesting the crabs in a region of the world that’s warming unusually fast because of its proximity to the North Pole. (Alaska officials also canceled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest for a second year in a row.) This isn’t a small industry; Alaska’s crab fishing is worth more than $200 million a year. The sudden shutdown has left the state, well, shell-shocked. >click to read< 12:04

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