Billions of Snow Crabs Have Disappeared From Alaska Waters
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Scientists have been left perplexed after billions of crabs and crustaceans reportedly disappeared mysteriously in the Bering Sea off the US state of Alaska in the last several years.
Ben Daly, a researcher with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), told US media outlet CNN the snow crab population shrank from about 8 billion in 2018 to 1 billion in 2021.
Snow crab is by far the most abundant of all the Bering Sea crab species that is caught commercially," Daly said. So the shock and awe of many billions missing from the population is worth noting - and that includes all the females and babies."
[...] Environmental conditions are changing rapidly," Daly told CBS News. We've seen warm conditions in the Bering Sea the last couple of years, and we're seeing a response in a cold-adapted species, so it's pretty obvious this is connected. It is a canary in a coal mine for other species that need cold water."
The sharp drop in their numbers forced the ADF&G last week announced the cancellation of the Alaska snow crab harvest for the first time ever in Alaska, the United States' largest state.
It said that while there would be substantial impacts" on harvesters, the department has to balance the impacts with the need for long-term conservation and sustainability of crab stocks".
[...] Jamie Goen, executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers said some crabbers will be going out of business as a result of the cancellation.
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