King crabs in European seas

[Anthony Appleyard]

To those of you who dive in European sea, have any of you seen or heard of any red king crab (Red king crab - Wikipedia, Paralithodes camtschaticus ) yet? It was introduced artificially by the Soviet Union into the Murmansk Fjord, Barents Sea, during the 1960s, and since then it has spread to Spitzbergen and along the coast of Norway. How far has it spread yet?

See Barents Sea teems with 'Stalin's crabs'

 

[markmud]

To those of you who dive in European sea, have any of you seen or heard of any red king crab (Red king crab - Wikipedia, Paralithodes camtschaticus ) yet? It was introduced artificially by the Soviet Union into the Murmansk Fjord, Barents Sea, during the 1960s, and since then it has spread to Spitzbergen and along the coast of Norway. How far has it spread yet?

See Barents Sea teems with 'Stalin's crabs'

Hi Anthony,

I know they are an invasive species; however, they are so, so, so good to eat. I don't like the biodiversity damage that is done, but in this case I will gladly take part in eating king crab that was harvested from the Barents Sea, and other places, the next time I am in Europe.

thanks for the interesting links. I enjoyed reading them.

markm

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

On one web site I read about a strange legal situation :: when the web site was set up, EAST of the North Cape (Nordkapp) they are a preserved fishery and it is illegal to take them without a permit. WEST of the North Cape, they are undesirable aliens, and if you catch one, it is (or was) illegal to put it back in the sea.

 

[BlueTrin]

Happy red crab invasion

 

[Pedro Burrito]

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[Anthony Appleyard]

Due to the red king crab's appetite, there is fear for the result if it gets into the cod breeding ground off Lofoten. Lofoten - Wikipedia

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

In Norway, what is the law about taking red king crab, on scuba, and otherwise? They can only be taken by licenced fishermen in the Barents Sea east of the North Cape, because of a fisheries agreement with Russia, but what about elsewhere?

Red king crab - Wikipedia

North Cape (Norway) - Wikipedia

This website
Russian red king crabs may threaten other seafood in Norway. - Free Online Library
says that anyone can catch them west of the North Cape :: but does the "take the males only" rule apply everywhere, or only east of the North Cape?

 

[Storker]

In Norway, what is the law about taking red king crab, on scuba, and otherwise?

AFAIK the only non-protected critter we're not allowed to harvest while on scuba is the common lobster. And since the kamchatca crab is considered an invasive species west of the North Cape, I have a hard time believing there would be any "take males only" there.

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

I emailed the Norwegian government's fisheries department asking about catching king crabs, and I got this answer today:-
(Nordkapp = North Cape)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
04/06/2019 - 14:52, from Guro Gjelsvik
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello,

With reference to your questions about king crab; there are some colonies in the west of Finnmark and in northern part of Troms. According to the scientists at IMR the density is low west of Nordkapp.

There is no quotas west of Nordkapp, so it is “free” fishing.

You can find the regulations online:

J-51-2019

(In it, click on the little Union Jack symbol to get the English language version)

Other regulations may also apply.

There is no laws against catching king crab by scuba diving west of Nordkapp.

Yes, it is still forbidden to put alive king crab back in the sea west of Nordkapp.

Best regards

Guro Gjelsvik

seniorrådgiver/Senior Adviser

http://nettfisken.fiskeridirektorat.../352137-1-nor-NO/logo-profil-des-2018.JPG.jpg

Ressursavdelingen/ Resource Management Departement

Fiskeridirektoratet/ Directorate of Fisheries

Postboks 185 Sentrum
N-5804 Bergen
Tlf. 03495 /(+ 47 800 30 179) /900 63 839

Fax. + 47 55 23 80 90 / +47 55 23 83 68
E-mail: postmottak@fiskeridir.no
guro.gjelsvik@fiskeridir.no

 

[Storker]

Unless you set a bunch of pots you won't get close to filling any quotas, east or west of Nordkapp.

And you'd be hard pressed to find a large enough catch bag.