Alaska's Bering Sea king and snow crab seasons canceled over population collapse

[cbabe]

https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2022/10/11/alaskas-bering-sea-king-and-snow-crab-seasons-canceled-over-population-collapse/

Alaska’s Bering Sea king and snow crab seasons canceled over population collapse

Alaska officials have canceled the fall Bristol Bay red king crab harvest, and in a first-ever move also scuttled the winter harvest of smaller snow crab.

The move is a double whammy to a fleet from Alaska, Washington and Oregon pursuing Bering Sea crab in harvests that as recently as 2016 grossed $280 million.

“I am struggling for words. This is so unbelievable that this is happening,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We have third-generation fishermen who are going to go out of business.”

The closures reflect conservation concerns about both crab species in the aftermath of bleak summer populations surveys. The tough decisions to shut down the snow crab and fall king crab harvests came after days of discussions by Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists and senior agency officials who faced crabbers’ pleas for at least small fisheries.

“Management of Bering Sea snow crab must now focus on conservation and rebuilding given the conditions of the stock,” the department said in a Monday statement announcing the snow crab cancellation.

Snow crab populations collapsed in the aftermath of a 2019 Bering Sea warming that scrambled the broader marine ecosystem, and last year’s snow crab harvest of 5.6 million pounds was the smallest in more than 40 years.

[BradAllison]

1. Welp

There's no climate change tho.

[exboyfil]

2. Alaska - oil or crabs

You can have one but not both.

[CentralMass]

3. 😞

[Brenda]

4. And the Sixth Extinction rolls on

When will people wake up that this is real and it is happening.

Human animals are not immune.

[exboyfil]

6. Anybody got that recipe for cockroaches and rats

It has been amazing to see as once were considered garbage fishes are now being viewed as delicacies. It is amazing what chefs can accomplish.

[lapfog_1]

7. and jellyfish

don't forget the jellyfish...

We can all eat peanut butter and jellyfish sandwiches

[Chainfire]

9. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18773/slow-cooked-squirrel/

Just substitute rat for squirrel, not even the most discriminating can tell the difference.

Here, if you are in S. Florida you can also substitute Palmetto bugs:

https://www.rovepestcontrol.com/if-you-cant-beat-em-eat-em-5-delicious-cockroach-recipes/

[Hugin]

15. Ah, Chicken of the Tree...

Skip them in early Spring. When they come to after their hibernation.

[Moostache]

12. We are on a glide path to cooking with "Protein" additives

That will be the euphemism for "cooking with cockroach and cricket powdered "protein".

In the end, with enough spices and vegetables (onions, leeks, shallots, peppers, etc.) many people will shrug and move on...others will get stuck on the "icky-ness" and have a harder time....but make no mistake beef, chicken, pork and fish are not plentiful enough to support the continued pressures from population, diet/appetite changes in formerly 3rd world areas and the ravages of climate change - especially on seafood populations as they continue to collapse in accelerated time.

This is just one of the first stories that will involve people's trade and livelihoods being wiped out. More to come is guaranteed at this point, but the acceleration of the bad news is going to be vertigo inducing for denialists and sad confirmation to realists.

We're basically fucked, and no amount of denial is going to change that reality.

[Chainfire]

16. Beef has priced itself out of my market.

I can afford to eat what I want to eat, and I do love a good steak, but I ain't paying what they are asking any more. You are right, in the long run, if we have a long run, the way we eat now will have to change.

[DBoon]

13. a good chef can make soylent green tasty

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Wow

Just incredible. They don't really have a choice, you're not going to have a population if you fish it this year again.

The collapse of our oceans is going to be one of the most dramatic effects of Global Warming. A great percentage of people living on our planet rely on the food the oceans provide. The great reefs are in big trouble, if they die out the ocean is going to produce a fraction of what is needed.

[LakeArenal]

8. Oh the Deadliest Catch dudes are gonna choke on that.

[modrepub]

21. Maybe Some Of Them Will Be Working Pulling Up Ghost Pots

like they do in the Chesapeake Bay. Old abandon traps on the ocean bottom floor probably reduce crab populations. Pulling them back up and pulling in loose line could keep some of these folks busy and may help replenish the crab population.

I liked that show. I doubt most of them put money away for a "rainy day". Shame, they sometimes made a hell of a lot of $ over a short period of time. TV revenue probably only added on to their normal earnings. I guess it's a former life documented for posterity.

[onethatcares]

10. it's not just a reality teevee machine show

but they've been taking and taking for years in order to satisfy an audience that cheers them on. They call it the most dangerous job depleting this resourse.

What's that saying? "When the last tree is cut down, the last fish caught, and the last buffalo slaughtered then man will realize you can't eat money"

[jalan48]

11. This will effect America's all you can eat buffets.

[Ferrets are Cool]

14. Gee, imagine that. Over fishing much?

Snow crabs in every "all you can eat" restaurant in 'Merica. It is not a bottomless well of plenty.

[hatrack]

17. Wow, shocking. I had NO IDEA this could happen!!!!

[cbabe]

18. No More Fish, No Fishermen- John Roberts, Peter and Joanne Souza

No More Fish, No Fishermen- John Roberts, Peter and Joanne Souza


https://m.

[gratuitous]

19. "This is so unbelievable that this is happening"

Now if those dirty fucking hippies would just shut up about global climate change, we could figure out a way to blame this on Biden.

[DFW]

20. When I think of the number, $280 million

What is that, 75% of a sophisticated bomber?

So order one bomber less, subsidize the fleet to stay at home, and eat pollock for one season. The alternative is to let each boat say, well, it's not MY little catch that will make or break the species, and find both species extinct permanently. within 18 months.

[exboyfil]

23. You don't want to know what the whole annual wheat crop of Kansas could buy in F-22s

I think I calculated about two when commodity prices were down. A bit more now.

Kansas total wheat price about $3B

One F22 is about $700M so you can buy about four jets.

[GoCubsGo]

22. Meanwhile, King crabs are an ivasive problem in Norway.

Thanks to some idiot Soviet marine biologist who introduced them back in the 1960s. They have been wreaking havoc on the Norwegian coastal ecosystem for years. If some of these Alaska crabbers are interested in spending some time in Norway, I'm thinking they might like the help in fishing these things out.

[underpants]

24. Kick