King Crab Town
Facts
Kirkenes is one of the most important ports for harvesting king crab in the Barents Sea. King crabs that end up in Bugøynes, about 100 km west of Kirkenes, are exported live to restaurants around the world – a large part of the western Russian king crab fleet is located in Kirkenes.- The most important king crab species harvested in Norway is the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus), which is the largest species in the king crab family. In recent years, there has also been a large fishery for snow crab in the North Barents Sea.
- The king crab can grow to a leg span of 1.8 m and weigh up to 12 kg.
- The male king crab grows significantly larger than females.
- Crabs are usually found at depths of more than 200 m, but can be found at shallower depths in the spring when they migrate to mate.
- King crabs are crustaceans, and since their exoskeleton does not expand, they must shed their outer shell to grow larger.
- An average adult crab lays 150,000, or more, eggs, which it carries under its shell for up to 11 months.
- There has been commercial fishing of king crab in Norway since 2002.
- King crab is mainly harvested with pots, but regulations only allow the harvesting of male crabs over a certain size.
How the king crab came to Norway
The first attempt to introduce the red king crab to the Barents Sea from the Pacific Ocean took place in the early 1930s. However, this proved unsuccessful, apparently due to poor equipment for storing and transporting the crabs. The attempt was repeated in 1959, and this time proved successful. Ten large female crabs were caught in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Vladivostok, and transported from east to west across the former Soviet Union. All the crabs survived the long journey and were kept at an aquaculture station near Murmansk during the winter. In the spring they were released into the fjord together with five male crabs. During the period 1961-69, 1.5 million crab larvae were released into the Barents Sea. The last reintroduction took place in 1977-78 when 1200 adult king crabs were released into the Kola Bay. Consequently, the current king crab population in the Barents Sea can be traced back to these crabs. The first recorded capture of a king crab in the Soviet part of the Barents Sea was in 1974, while in January 1977 a king crab was caught in a net in the Varangerfjord for the first time. This coincided with a confirmation from the Soviet authorities that the red king crab had been introduced to the Barents Sea, and that they considered the introduction of this species to be successful.
