Snow crab have suddenly all but disappeared from Alaska’s waters which has forced Alaskan Department of Fish and Game AKA the ADF&G has been forced to cancel the crab season for 2022-2023. This will likely have wide spread consequences for not just seas food but also cruising as well. There have been a few reasons cited for the sudden disappearance of the crabs mostly the rising water temperatures in Alaska 3.5 degrees Celsius or 38 degrees Fahrenheit which also causes in increase of Bitter Crab Disease. So its likely many different reasons ultimately culminating in the sudden drop in population. There’s also the possibility of falsified information but that is hard to prove. Another possibility is that many of the crabs escaped north to cooler waters.
The most immediate consequence will be to the restaurants both on land and at sea, but if you are planning on cruising to Alaska, which is a popular cruising destination, this will definitely affect your itinerary for instance Princess has an excursion that involves the hit TV show Deadliest Catch where they have converted one of the classic ships for a tour of the Bering Sea, one of the activities is to buy crab to eat right on the ship, but with the decline in population they may not be able to show off as much as they did in previous tours.
Alaska is now attempting to preserve what population they have left in an effort to help them rebound. This unfortunately may take many years for the crab population to bounce back. Sad news for fans of the tasty crustacean.
