Millions of King Crabs Turn Sea to Desert

Reporter writes "Russian biologist, Yuri Illarionovich Orlov, succeeded where Stalin failed by implanting the red king crabs into the Barents Sea. Except now, 40 years later, he's getting worried. Why? The giant crabs are clawing their way along the bottom of the Barents Sea are spreading like wildfire along the northern coasts of Russia and Norway and will continue to spread as far as Gibraltar, the southern tip of the European continent. How come? One female crab can lay 500,000 eggs at a time, of which one or two percent will become crabs. The kicker is that the species is protected by diplomatic accords between Norway and Russia, so fishing quotas are in place. From the article: "The Kamchatka crab, also known as the Alaskan or red king crab, was introduced into the Barents by the Soviets in the 1960s — some 30 years after a first, failed attempt by Stalin — in a bid to bolster Russia's food supplies. ... The crabs weigh up to 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and measure up to two meters (6.5 feet) from pincher to pincher. While they remain far from Europe's tourist beaches for the time being, their impact on the environment is already a major cause for concern in the Arctic"."

Lower the quotas

[Ekhymosis]

Lower the quotas, bring in a Red Lobster chain in Russia and Norway and problem solved. I hope.

Unlikely to reach Gibraltar

[Hrshgn]

Research already showed that those guys are quite temperature-sensitive. It is rather unlikely that they will be able to leave the artic water and reach as far as Gibraltar.

Always a bad idea

[atomicstrawberry]

This is just another entry in the long list of 'we probably shouldn't have introduced this species into this environment' stories. Kind of like introducing Rabbits into New Zealand, or Foxes into Australia, or a myriad of other examples. They end up thriving and taking over, to the detriment of the various species that were already there.

Re:How do they catch them then?

[AuMatar]

True nerds watch the Discovery channel. They did a whole thing on Alaskan crab fisherman the past 2 years. YOu catch crabs in metal pots.

Re:Always a bad idea

[nosfucious]

The rabbits that were introduced in to Australia have been an environmental nightmare.

In certain conditions they populate so quickly you'll end up with a plague. The munch on all available grass and low level plants. Just leaving sand and soil behind. This valuable topsoil then gets blown away by wind or the occasional storm. Their burrows collapse and cause further run off problems after storms. Much of Australia doesn't have huge trees to bind the soil together. That's just one aspect.

It only took a few rabbits too. Released just near Melbourne. Now they're all over the place.

Mice (at times), Cane toads, Crown of Thorns starfish are all big problems. Foxes are a concern, but not on the same scale, or is that Tassie only? Domestic and stray cats are just as bit a problem in outer suburban/semi-rural areas, going after the native birds and small animals.

All systems will find an equilibrium. Trouble is, that (nearly) isolated systems such as Australia don't have the natrual competitors for introduced species. They would form over time, just not in the short term that we live in and see. Foxes were introduced to try and get the rabbits, Cane Toads to get the Prickly Pear. They just caused thier own problems.

Re:How do they catch them then?

[trewornan]

Crab traps are known as "pots" - it's a technical term, and yes, mostly they're made of metal.

Deadliest Catch

[1WingedAngel]

The Discovery Channel had a wonderful show on last season about these very crabs called The Deadliest Catch [discovery.com]. It was definitely worth watching.

Re:500,000 eggs at a time

[DaveV1.0]

A snack for other sea critters.

Re:Unlikely to reach Gibraltar

[dalutong]

I don't know of any water-based problems, but there have been plenty of stories of foreign species destroying local populations. The most recent story I've read is about poisonous toads in Western Australia that kills crocodiles (or is it alligators?) who eat them, and many other things. They now have so many they can't get rid of them.

Re:Deadliest Catch

[dafz1]

I'm glad someone mentioned Deadliest Catch! I love that show!

As a country seemingly lacking in AVAILABLE natural resource(oil in Siberia under miles of permafrost in inhospitable conditions isn't available), this could be a boon for the Russian economy. Also, with the introduction of crab quotas, there are a lot of out of work crab boat captains and crew in Alaska. Since they run so close to the Pacific side of Russia, I think most of them would be ok with "fishing" the Barents Sea.

The downside is that this would lead to a price war, if the Russian king crab were put on the global market, which would further negatively affect the Alaskan crab fleet.

Re:Deadliest Catch

[Anonymous Coward]

I am astounded that you can suggest that a) Russia lacks in available natural resources, particularly oil or b) Alaskan boats sail to the Barents Sea from the Pacific

Russia is the third largest oil producer in the world.

To get to the Barents Sea from Alaska, you would either have to sail south past California and Mexico, through the Panama canal, through the Gulf of Mexico and north accross the Atlantic past Iceland; or walk accross the Artic Ice; or sail across the Pacific, South past the Philipines, around India and through the Indian Ocean, through the Suez, the Mediterrean, and the North up the Atlantic.

You see, Russia stretches 11 time zones, nearly half way around the world, and the two seas in question are at opposite ends, basically on different sides of the globe.

Re:Crabs == oil

[ivan256]

the point is that you don't have to eat them

I think the point was that he wants to eat them.

I know I do. They're delicious.

Re:How do they catch them then?

[maxpublic]

Actually, cages or baskets. They're called crab pots, but they aren't actually pots.

You can do this yourself off the coast of many places in the U.S.; all you need is a) a boat (a small boat will do, such as a speedboat); b) an open-topped cage or metal basket; and c) chum (fish heads, fish guts). The fish heads/guts go into the 'pots', usually on hooks so they don't come loose. The pots are attached to ropes (anything that doesn't rot), and the ropes are attached to small buoys. You lay a dozen or so pots at a time; by the time you've put down the last one you're ready to go back to the first, which you can easily spot care of the brightly-colored buoy.

So you zip on back and begin hauling on the rope as fast as you can. You do this because at this point any crab within smelling distance of the chum has crawled into the pot to eat the fish guts and gets a bit upset if the pot starts rising through the water. By pulling up the rope quickly you use the pressure of the water to keep the crab from climbing out of the pot. Keep this up until the pot surfaces, bring it into the boat, and pick out the crabs you want to eat. Throw everything else back. Repeat this process for the next ten or eleven lines. If you want A LOT of crabs and you don't have a small limit you can lay the pot again as soon as you empty it, then play round-robin until you get tired.

This is the recreational way of crabbing. The commercial way is generally far more efficient. Both result in good eating.

Max