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Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from Alaskan waters.Scientists say overfishing is not to blame

In recent years, the Alaskan snow crab harvest was canceled for the first time after billions of crustaceans disappeared from the cold and dangerous waters of the Bering Sea.

The Alaska Fisheries Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council announced last week that the Bering Sea snow crab population had fallen below regulatory standards to open the fishery.

But the actual numbers behind that decision are shocking. According to Benjamin Daley, a researcher at the Alaska Fish and Game Service, the snow crab population has fallen from about eight billion in 2018 to one billion in 2021.

In recent years, the Alaskan snow crab harvest was canceled for the first time after billions of crustaceans disappeared from the cold and dangerous waters of the Bering Sea. (Danita Delimont/Alamy)

“Snow crab is by far the most abundant commercially caught crab species in the Bering Sea,” Daley told CNN. “The shock and awe of the billions of people missing from the population is remarkable. That includes all women and babies.”

Bristol Bay king crab fishing will also be suspended for the second year in a row, officials said.

Officials cited overfishing as the reason for canceling the season. Mark Stichart, demersal fish and crustacean fisheries management coordinator for the state’s fish and game division, said more crabs are being caught from the ocean than are naturally replaced.

“So there have been more removals from the population than inputs,” Stichart explained at a conference on Thursday.

A snow crab found underwater in the St. Lawrence River in Canada.
A snow crab found underwater in the St. Lawrence River in Canada. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Between surveys conducted in 2021 and 2022, adult male snow crab numbers have declined by about 40%, leaving an estimated 45 million pounds across the Bering Sea, he said.

“To be clear, this is a frightening number,” Stichart said.

But while calling the Bering Sea crab population “overfished” is a technical definition that triggers conservation measures, it says nothing about the cause of its collapse.

“We call it overfishing because of its size level,” Michael Litzow, director of the Kodiak Lab for NOAA Fisheries, told CNN.

“But it is clear that it was not overfishing that caused the collapse.”

Ritzou says human-induced climate change was a key factor in the crab’s alarming extinction

A kangaroo covered in mud found in flooded areas near Lake Kiara.

‘Mud-covered’ kangaroo found in flooded area

Snow crab is a cold-water species that is predominantly found in areas where the water temperature is below 2 degrees Celsius, Litzow says.

As the ocean warms and sea ice disappears, the oceans around Alaska are becoming less habitable for species.

“In 2018, there were a number of attribution studies looking at specific temperatures in the Bering Sea or Bering Sea ice areas, and in those attribution studies, those temperatures and low-ice conditions in the Bering Sea were a result of global warming. said Rizzo.

Scientists report that temperatures around the Arctic are warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.

Climate change has caused rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic region, especially in Alaska’s Bering Sea, amplifying global warming.

Ethan Nichols, assistant area management biologist for the Alaska Fish and Game Service, told CNN, “Because stocks are so low, closing fisheries and continuing research are the main ways to recover populations at this time. It’s an effort,” he said.

Stikert also said there may be “optimism for the future” as a small number of small snow crab juveniles are beginning to appear in the system.

However, it could be at least another three to four years before they reach maturity and contribute to population regrowth.

“It’s a glimmer of optimism,” Litzow said.

“Certainly, it’s better than not seeing them. We get a little warmer each year, and that variability is greater in arctic and high-latitude ecosystems. , which would be good news for snow crabs.”

A collection of sea urchins observed during a deep-sea dive by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on St. Croix.

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Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from Alaskan waters.Scientists say overfishing is not to blame

Source link Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from Alaskan waters.Scientists say overfishing is not to blame

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