Snow crab shortage worries Detroit crab houses and eateries
(CBS DETROIT) - A problem all the way in the deep waters off of Alaska is hitting close to home. Crab legs are very popular around the Detroit area. So news that there would not be a snow crab harvest out of the Bering sea this year because the declining snow crab population was very concerning.
Eric English manager at the Crab House in Detroit makes his living selling yummy dishes with snow crab as their signature menu item. English said they have been open for more than 13 years and they rely on the supply of snow crab for business.
"We are hoping and we are praying that it does not cause issues and that we will still be able to do business and keep our crab legs at an affordable price," said English.
Benjamin Daly of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the snow crab population has been on the decline. He attributes a big part of it to warming waters.
"Warm environmental conditions coupled with high, very high crab densities in 2018, have triggered this kind of unprecedented collapse," said Daly. "You know, last year we had the lowest harvest we've ever seen at about five and a half million pounds of snow crab at the time. At the time that was the lowest, smallest fishery for balancing snow crabs we've ever had. And then this year, further population declines really drove the closure of the fishery."
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), warming waters are having a serious impact on marine life and snow crab:
"A marine heatwave was responsible for numerous marine ecosystem changes. The heatwave likely affected adult and juvenile snow crab survival in a number of ways (e.g., starvation, disease, migration, predation, etc.) leading to the population decline."
They also said climate change will continue to present challenges to understanding marine ecosystems in Alaska and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, English said if snow crab becomes completely out of reach, switching to imitation crab meat is not an option.
"The imitation crab is something that we do not use here, and it will not be a go-to at all. So in the situation that there are no crabs, we are going to try our best to be able to have crab legs here,".
Daly said there will not be another snow crab harvest in the bearing sea until October of next 2023.