Alaska Canceled Snow Crab and King Crab Seasons This Year

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced it was canceling crab seasons in different parts of the state for the 2022/2023 fishing season. The Bering Sea snow crab season, the Bristol Bay red king crab season, the Pribilof District red and blue king crab season, and the Saint Matthew Island blue king crab season have all been closed.

The crab's stock has been declared too low for the fisheries to be allowed to open, according to the statements.

Snow crab populations in the Bering Sea have been declining for years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). While some decline is being attributed to rising temperatures in the Bering Sea, there are likely other factors that play a role in the sharp decline.

"Pretty much what has happened is about a billion crab have gone missing and they don't know what happened," says Alaska fisherman and boat captain Luke Scalzi. "Whether it's crab looking for colder water and heading north [or] you could say there's been overfishing. There's also another group of boats, that fish in that area too — and we wonder what their damage is on the resource — that being the trawlers."

The ADF&G is still trying to understand why the populations are declining, but it hopes that canceling the fishing season this year will help rebuild the population for future seasons. However, Scalzi says it's speculated that snow crab seasons will be canceled for four years and king crab seasons will be canceled for two to three years.

"[Economically] it's going to be devastating for some," he says. "There were, let's call it 40 to 60 boats, and each boat has five to seven guys on it. So right there there's a lot of lost income for them individually. For some of these boats, this is what they do, and to take away that income — I think there's going to be a lot of bankruptcy, honestly."

In addition to the season cancelations, the Bering Sea Tanner crab season, which began October 15, has strict regulations on the number of crabs allowed to be caught. Between individual fishing and community development fishing quotas, a little over 2 million pounds of Tanner crab are allowed to be fished.

Will Crab Be Available at the Grocery Stores?

If you're worried about finding fresh crab in the grocery store — especially if your upcoming holiday plans revolve around a seafood dinner — we have slightly good news. Tanner crab and brown (also known as golden) crab will still be available.

However, because of the small quota of Tanner crab, Scalzi says you'll likely be paying top dollar for them. Last year, brown crab was at a record high in price and while it may come down a little bit, it's still going to be quite expensive, according to Scalzi.

If you're not willing to pay the price for fresh crab, you can always opt for canned or frozen. It's not the same as cracking into a meaty crab leg, but it'll do in a pinch. Or maybe try a new recipe for a different gourmet seafood meal instead featuring another great sustainable option.

While some may think reaching for imitation crab is a great cheap and simple replacement for real crab, Scalzi says it's a pretty ironic choice. Imitation crab is made from surimi, which is often the Alaskan pollock. Pollocks are caught by trawler boats, which many Alaskan fishermen think are responsible for the crab decline — because when trawlers catch fish, like pollocks, they're likely to accidentally scoop up crabs in the bycatch.

"The irony of it is pretty funny: fishing for a species to make into the species that you're accidentally killing off," he says.