Bleak outlook for red king crab fishery in West Kamchatka

As of 2008 the scientists recommend to ban fishery of red king crab in the area of West Kamchatka, Andrei Krainiy, head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, said in his interview to the Japanese agency Kyodo.

This advice will be honored in the near future the ban will be implemented, he added.

The recommended period of the ban of the red king crab fishery is from 5 or more years. These are forced and temporary measures aimed to revive the stocks of the species, the TAC of which is exceeded 7 - 8 times now, according to the Fishery Head.

The population of this crab species decreased more than 40% for the period of the last two years. This is dozens of millions individuals in quantity and thousands of tonnes in weight. And all this is the result of a large scale poaching, Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries explained.

The problem of closing of the red king crab fishery in the area of West Kamchatka arose accutely at the end of 2006. A great concern for the health of the stocks was expressed by the Federal Agency for Fisheries, Governors of the Far East regions, fishermen and scientists.

"This is obvious now for all the interested parties that this species needs revival lest we should lose the red king crab forever", Andrei Krainiy emphasized.

TAC of all crab species in Russia is currently amounts 56 - 57 thousand tonnes per year with the share of the red king crab dramatically decreasing.