Why Did 11 Billion Alaskan Snow Crabs Suddenly Disappear?

October 21, 2022 International News, North Pacific

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

2019 survey, 2020 no survey because of Covid, Alaska, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Alaska’s crab fishing, Bering Sea, Dr. Mike Litzow, global warming, NOAA, Snow crab, Snow crab harvest

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ocean Resource Privatization

Articles Posted by Date
November 2024

M T W T F S S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30

« Oct

November 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

Recent Posts
- New Report Suggests “Whale Psychiatrist” Trump May be Right About Wind Farms and Whales
  
  US Bureau of Ocean Management report says whales, dolphins, birds and bats can all be injured by wind turbine construction, and offshore fishing harmed. Trump has Read More »
- Seattle’s industrial waterfront remains a contamination challenge for orcas. What about Salmon?!
  
  The Southern Resident orcas are often called some of the most contaminated marine mammals on earth. Their fat is filled with toxins like PCBs. When they Read More »
- Shem Creek shrimpers grapple with impending life raft requirement
  
  With an online effort to collect $30,000 to purchase life rafts for Shem Creek’s shrimpers stalled out around the $2500 mark. Matthew Hooper of the USCG’s Read More »
- Begich calls farmed fish ‘corncob couch potatoes’ to ‘Hollywood health guru’
  
  “It’s a disservice to point your clients and your fans toward farm fish, the corncob couch potatoes of the ocean, instead of encouraging them to eat fresh, Read More »
- P.E.I. fall lobster season wraps up with high catches, prices
  
  P.E.I. fishermen hauled in as many lobsters this fall as they did last year — more, in some areas — and the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association is crediting Read More »
- Legendary Commercial Fisherman Michael D. McHenry has passed away
  
  “You can have that boat if you want to re-float it.” That was all Michael had to hear. He began his fishing career at age 15, Read More »
- The impact of the New England Fisherman in Crisis hits Charley Baker, In Mass Governor race, hard
  
  Martha Coakley and Charlie Baker answered questions about when they had last cried. Right away Baker got emotional, describing what a fisherman told him about his Read More »
- Offshore Wind Lease Areas Impede on Historic Fishing Grounds
  
  In announcing its decision Monday (the initial deadline for comment), BOEM said it received requests from tribal nations and stakeholders to provide more time to review Read More »
- These guys are hot! Fishermen who rescued lost paddleboarders, rescue a man in Galway
  
  The father and son who rescued two paddleboarders last month have saved another life after plucking a man from the water in Galway yesterday morning. Patrick Read More »
- Deadliest Catch season 17 – What a Time to be Alive!
  
  In season 17, Discovery says that “half the crab boats of the Bering Sea fleet are tied up in Seattle” while “an existential threat faces the Read More »
- Group Led by Hastings Seeks Public Input on the ESA
  
  The Endangered Species Act (ESA) Congressional Working Group, led by Hastings and Rep. Cynthia Lummis (WY-at large), invites public comments from people across the country who have Read More »
- Kitsilano Coast Guard Station reopening with new boats
  
  The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that when the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station reopens on Sunday it will have two inflatable rescue boats and a specialized Read More »
- Joel Dejean: Turn the Tide Against the Texas Gulf Wind Farms
  
  The Biden Administration announced last week that the first offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico will be positioned off the coasts of Texas and Read More »
- The real Sea Wolf: Russians try to tame ‘Sea Wolf’ Captain Alexander MacLean (Part 2)
  
  After being caught almost red-handed poaching seals from a Russian island, Captain MacLean was summoned, along with most of his crew, to appear aboard the Russian Read More »
- FFAW President Greg Pretty not seeking re-election, will retire
  
  Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union president Greg Pretty is retiring after more than 40 years with Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest private sector union. Pretty Read More »
- Salvage of sunken commercial fishing boat in Port of Eden nears completion
  
  The salvage of the Janet, the commercial fishing boat that sank at Eden in the early hours of April 20, is almost complete. It took attempts by Read More »
- BREAKING – Commerce Department listens to pleas from lawmakers and declares fishery disaster – What’s Next?
  
  U.S. Sen. John Kerry announced this morning that the Department of Commerce agreed to the bipartisan request from members of Congress, four New England Governors and Read More »
- Canadian Risk Assessment Finds GMO Salmon Susceptible to Disease, as Food and Drug Admin Rubber Stamps Approval!
  
  A never-before-seen draft environmental review of AquaBounty Technologies’ (ABTX) genetically engineered (GE) salmon reveals that Canadian government scientists disagree with the engineered (GE) salmon (FDA) on Read More »
- Before she was Wild Alaskan, she was the F/V Shaman – and she ruled the King Crab fishery
  
  Long before strippers gyrated for fishermen who boarded the Wild Alaskan for a night of fun, she was known as the F/V Shaman, one of the Read More »
- FISH-NL calls on candidates in federal by-election to take a stand on fishery issues. All responses will be made public.
  
  The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is calling on candidates in the upcoming federal byelection of Bonavista-Burin-Trinity to spell out where Read More »
- Disputed National Marine Fisheries Service data leads to a correction
  
  After significant objection from the recreational fishing and boating community, the National Marine Fisheries Service is taking steps to correct a key fisheries economics report that Read More »
- Undersea cable project would ease need for lines – Officials with both companies said they sympathize with the situation of lobstermen.
  
  Representatives from Tetra Tech, a technical engineering firm, and New Hampshire Transmission, the developer exploring the installation of a 55-mile long underwater cable, are poised to Read More »
- Copper River fishermen gain another harvest
  
  Commercial harvesters keen on those Copper River salmon got a fifth shot at those prized Chinooks and reds on Thursday, June 18, in a 12-hour opener Read More »
- Lobster gear change enforcement delayed because of supply change issues
  
  NOAA said Wednesday morning that it will use a “graduated enforcement effort” until the supply issues have been resolved. The regulations require lobstermen to splice NOAA-approved Read More »
- Coast Guard rescues 2 from vessel on fire, taking on water 9 miles off Bulls Bay
  
  A Coast Guard Station Charleston rescue crew saved two people after their fishing vessel caught fire and began taking on water approximately 9 miles east of Read More »