The king crabs - a blessing?

The king crab was introduced to the Barents Sea by Russian scientists in the 1960s. The crabs are spread into large areas of both the Russian and Norwegian waters and are now considered to be a permanent habitant of the Barents Sea. As an omnivore with few natural enemies it was for many years considered a great threat to the Barents way of life – both for man and under water species. But the king crab is also a sought-after delicacy that could bring hope for the future of many small villages in the high north.

The king crabs were originally found in the northern parts of the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. In 1961, the Russian marine biologist Jurij I. Orlov succeeded in bringing live female crabs full of spawn, from the Japan Sea to Murmansk. Orlov made 30 trips like this over a period of 8 years, from 1961 to 1969, in which he put out 2 000 female crabs, 1 000 male crabs and 10 000 crab brood. And also 1, 5 million crab larvae. The last time a relocation of crabs like this was made, was in 1977 – 78 where they put out 1200 adult king crabs in the Kola fjord. These crabs became with that the ancestors of the king crabs we see today in the Barents Sea.

Ever since 1932 the Soviet Union had been trying to relocate the king crabs. The project was a part of many of which the goal was to give more food to the people – a prestige project of Stalin. Orlov gained fame and recognition in Soviet for his work, and got among others the order “Hero of the Soviet Union.”

In the 40 years from the 1960s to 2000, the king crab had spread westward along all of the coast of Finnmark, where it is now a common sight. Some singletons have been spotted as far as in the Lofoten Islands, but this is likely to be individuals who got “a hand” on the way. Eastwards, the crabs are now found along the entire coast of Kola, into the White Sea and up north to Gåsbanken. On the Norwegian side it has also been seen far offshore; in 2003 it was found 100 nautical miles north of the North Cape. The previous registration was 12 nautical miles north of North Cape. This means that the king crab had moved a great distance in short time. King crab larvae lives 2-3 months in free water and can be transported over long distances with the ocean currents, and it is not unreasonable to assume that the king crabs can spread all the way up to Svalbard in a long term perspective. It is unknown how far west and south it will spread along the Norwegian coast, but Russian scientists believes that the crab has reached its most easterly border in the Barents Sea. Westwards on the other hand, the analysis suggests that the crabs will expand all the way to Gibraltar.

Until 2002, commercial red king crab fishery was prohibited in the Barents Sea. The reason of this was that during the negotiations on the grey zone in the late 1970s, Norway accepted the introduction of a total prohibition against this kind of fishery. This was after the request of the Soviet authorities who wanted the population to grow up big and viable. Now, the king crabs can be caught on commercial proposes east of 26° Ø and the quotas are regularly going up.

The production of king crabs is a prosperous industry in the Barents region, and more and more ancient fishing villages are expanding their production facilities so that they are able to include this kind of production. The only downside is that the production period is very short and hectic – only 6 weeks from September to mid- October. The Norwegian department of Fishery writes in a rapport on the king crab, that there is a significant potential for industrial and commercial development of the production of king crabs and that this would contribute to strengthen the fisheries in the gain ground of the crabs. They also encourage research and development on the area to insecure added values.

Japan and USA are the biggest markets for king crab and they are base don traditional products, sales outlets and fixed procedures for price stipulation. The experiences made in the period of research catch, indicates that the Norwegian king crab can reach new markets and offer both new and traditional products for “attractive prices.” In 2002, when catching of king crabs became regulated in Norway, they also made a tourist quota. This received a lot of attention, and is a growing business in Finnmark; Varanger Opplevelser calls the king crab catching a “very salable and sexy product – all year around.“

In the small coastal village of Bugøynes in Finnmark, Norway, we can find one of the suppliers of the king crabs. Bugøynes is located close to the Varangerfjord in the Varanger Peninsula – the key region for Red King Crab of Norway, and is today a leading king crab manufacturer in Norway. From these you can get everything from a crabs shoulder to an entire crab precooked. There are also similar production companies in Kjøllefjord and Berlevåg further west in Finnmark. These companies are exporting crab to markets in Europe, Asia and the USA, but their high season is in December when it’s the “Christmas sales” to Japan. So as he said, Jurij I. Orlov, the king crabs might just become a real blessing for the people of the Norwegian coast.

Sources:

Fiskeri- og Havbruksnæringens landforening

Havforskningsinstituttet

Fiskeri- og kystdepartementet

Bugøynes Kongekrabbe AS