The reason for the snow crab collapse is largely a mystery, although stocks do fluctuate regularly. The snow crab fishery had ranked as the third most valuable fishery in the Bering Sea region, which provides 90 per cent of the fish for US markets. Meanwhile, this year's king crab fisheries around the Pribilof Islands and St. Matthew Island were canceled because of low crab stocks, and commercial fishing for bairdi Tanner crabs has been closed since 1997 because of overfishing. This is an industry in crisis. However, he acknowledged the need for the slash in quotas.
State slashes snow-crab quota.
Arni Thomson, Alaska Crab Coalition.