Prospects for Bering Sea crab fishermen were brighter five years ago than they were today. Federal biologists stated that stocks were plentiful and were healthy. Prices were also near their all-time highs.
Two major crab harvests have been cancelled due to lack of fish. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced in October that it had cancelled the 2022-2023 Bering Sea snow crab harvest. It also announced the second consecutive year of closures for the Bristol Bay red-king crab harvest.
What’s happened since then? An extended marine heat wave that prevented the formation of ice in the Bering Sea for two seasons, greatly altering ocean conditions as well as fish health.
“We lost billions of winter crabs in a matter of weeks,” Bob Foy, director of Alaska Fisheries Science Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at a public forum that was held December 12 at Anchorage Museum of History and Art. We don’t have any smoking guns, but you can try. We don’t know of any one event that affected the snow crab, except the heat wave.
Although the heat wave may be over, its effects are still felt. According to the NOAA survey, there was an 80% decrease in temperature from 11.7 billion in 2018 and 1.9 billion this 2018. Experts told members of North Pacific Fishery Management Council that Bering Sea snow crab recovery could take six to ten years. They concluded a meeting that lasted 10 days in Anchorage.
Bill Tweit, a council member, said that snow crab could be the “poster child” of climate change during discussions on a rebuilding programme, which was eventually approved at the meeting. However, many more people will be affected by long-term changes to the ocean.
Tweit stated that “it’s going to become more and more of a problem question for us amongst a wider range of species than snow crab,”
The loss of red king crab and snow harvests can be devastating in the short-term. According to state estimates, direct losses due to harvest cancellations amount to $287.7million. Local governments, such as the Aleut Community of St. Paul that relies on crab harvests for over 90% of its tax revenue, are also suffering.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has limits on what it can do to manage crab stocks. The state manages crab harvests, even for federal stocks. However, the federal agencies and council provide scientific information and support to help and collaborate in this management. The council and its associated federal agencies have the power to regulate any other fisheries that could affect crab – this is what crab fishermen and crab dependent communities requested.
Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers is a non-profit trade organization. They petitioned council to use its emergency power to prohibit all fishing for six month in protected areas for red king crab. Crabs spend a lot of time in the soft-shell stage, where they mate and molt. The organization stated that this puts crabs at risk of being crushed or killed by trawlnets that scrape or hit the seafloor.
Although the majority of crab populations have been decimated by warm temperatures, that is not something that can immediately be fixed, Jamie Goen, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers executive director, stated that they are still working to recover them.
She stated that crab fishermen should be focused on what they can control, and that was fishing impacts and habitat protections.
The council decided not to take emergency action. Critics said that this might not be efficient and could have unintended consequences. These include moving the trawl fleet to other territory where salmon might be caught more frequently or other problems. Instead, the council approved a plan to examine alternatives that could include fishery closures in key red king crab molting and mating areas. The council approved a plan to rebuild snow crab stocks. This is beneficial for industry representatives, who expressed concerns about losing their place in larger seafood markets.
John Iani, president and CEO of the North Pacific Crab Association (based in Seattle), said that once you have lost that space at the buffet, when they fill it up with lobster or shrimp, it’s very difficult to get it back.”
Red king crab and Alaska snow crab are the only two players in the market.
Even though Russian king crab stocks are still being sold, even at Anchorage Costco, the U.S. government has stopped further imports of Russian fish because of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. The eastern Canada snow crab harvest is healthy. It is also harvested in the Barents Sea off Scandinavia where it is relatively new.
Other Alaska crabs are also available on the market, but they are not as well-known. The harvests of the golden king crab (a smaller species than red king) are continuing. There is also a small harvest of red-king crab in Norton Sound. This area of Nome will open in 2023. However, it was closed in two years ago due to low stock levels. As in other West Coast states, Dungeness crab harvests are continuing in Alaska. Last week, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that there will be a Tanner Crab Season in 2023 in Alaska’s Aleutians region.
According to the reports of ecosystem experts, there are also positive signs in Alaska’s marine environment.
Scientists told the council that a normal freeze had returned to the Bering Sea last year after years of high temperatures and low ice. Scientists told the council that this summer saw the return of a “cold pool” of average size. This is the ultra-chilled section that separates habitats in the northern Bering Sea and the southern. Scientists said that seabird populations have been reduced significantly in recent years. However, they are now showing success with reproduction. Scientists said that some fish populations, such as the pollock and Bristol Bay-bound Sockeye Salmon, have thrived under warmer conditions.
There are still signs of trouble. The ocean temperatures in some areas, such as the Aleutians remain high. The western Aleutians continue to see a decline in Steller sea lions. They are an endangered species in Alaska. The long-term decline of the Northern fur seals which congregate on the Pribilof Islands is a concern.
According to Elizabeth Siddon, NOAA fisheries biologist and Elizabeth Siddon, the future of the Bering sea depends on how humans act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Elizabeth spoke to the council Dec. 11.
Siddon stated that a “high-mitigation” scenario with large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will see the Bering Sea become “only slightly warmer, but very similar to current conditions by the end.” She said that the Bering Sea would be much warmer if it continued to operate in the “business-as-usual” scenario with little progress on greenhouse gas emissions.
Foy spoke at the museum’s event and said that the high Bering Sea temperatures during the heat wave will not become normal. He said that marine heat waves will become more common, as they will be accompanied by an increase in ocean temperatures.
He said, “It’s the effect on an ecosystem by those heat waves that worries scientists the most.” The data proves that animals are incapable of adapting. If they are unable to move or grow, and if there aren’t enough year classes per year to sustain a fishery then we have difficulties with communities and large-scale economic problems.
