It continues to be a tumultuous year for the U.S. seafood industry with the recent disappearance of one billion winter snow crabs in the Bering sea. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has reported for the first time in state history an estimated 90% drop in their population. Due to the puzzling plunge in the snow crab population, scientists are concerned about the stability of the Arctic ecosystem, whether it’s a sign of an ongoing trend or a temporary occurrence. An investigation into how the crabs vanished is currently being conducted, with disease cited as one possibility. Another unsurprising theory is climate change. Alaska ranks as the fastest warming state and loses billions of tons of ice per year. Ice is essential to snow crab survival, and it’s predicted to cost local seafood fishers around $200 million because unlike farmers, they aren’t supported by a disaster relief fund. What makes this situation more concerning is that earlier this year 65,000 dead wild salmon washed ashore due to lack of rainfall in British Columbia. Only 30% of expected salmon actually spawned for the season. Adding insult to injury, humans have pushed 70% of the animals on our planet to extinction in the last 50 years. Fans of the reality show Deadliest Catch, which is filmed around fishing for Alaskan snow crab, need not worry. The show won't be affected by cancellation of snow crab season because the participants also fish for other Bering Sea crab, such as golden king crab, bairdi and cod.
