Much Ado About King Crab!

King crab is amongst some of winter’s finest offerings from the sea. Yet before you enjoy a much-deserved crab dinner, you might want to double check to ensure your crab source is legal!  King crabs are primarily found in the frigid northern waters of the Bering Sea, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. The U.S. and Russia provide the majority of king crab for U.S. markets, however, Russian sources are plagued with a surplus of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) crab. This season alone, for example, U.S. and Japanese buyers have purchased almost double the metric tonnage allotted for Russia’s 2012 total allowable catch (TAC).  Due to these management concerns, Russian king crab is currently rated on the Red list of species to avoid by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The good news for crab lovers is that responsibly sourced king crab is available… just make sure it is from U.S. fisheries!