A. Species
Scientific name: Paralithodes camtchaticus
Common name(s): Red King crab
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status:
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Norway
Country/Region: Norway
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: National Level
Name/Details of location: Barents Sea
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2002
End Year: 2016
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from a suitable habitat but not its own natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed and Conservation Management
Motivation of use: Basic subsistence, Income generation from trade (individual/household/community) and Largescale commercial exploitation for trade
Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, National / local government, National / local private sector, International private sector and International external
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from a suitable habitat but not its own natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Regular surveys NB this is an invasive species deliberately introduced into the Russian part of the Barents Sea in the 1960s. It has established itself as a viable, self-reproducing population that has occupied a steadily increasing territory.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Despite substantial increase in fishing pressure, red king crab populations are increasing. Authors state: Based on regular surveys of crab populations in the Barents Sea, it is assumed that the volume of red king crab will remain steady. Thus, this industry will continue to be important to the Norwegian seafood industry.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Super-abundant resource able to support a substantial fishery. Invasive, so its removal carries no ecological costs.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Abundant, sustainable, popular food.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Human health: Consumers allergic to other crustacean species should therefore be cautious of consuming RKC due to the presence of similar IgE-binding epitopes. Food safety issues are mainly related to the risk of recontamination after cooking. The consequences of such contamination could be harmful if the crabmeat is consumed directly without any additional heat treatment. As the leg meat of red king crabs is protected against contamination, this is considered as a limited problem. On the other hand, the meat located in the shoulder of RKC is not protected by a shell, and is thereby more exposed. In fact, previous studies revealed that the shelf life of meat located in the shoulder of RKC clusters is three days less than that of meat located in the legs of the same product.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Animal welfare - authors state: more cost-effective live storage systems on and off-shore have to be developed to secure optimal animal welfare during transport to the destination market.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
Need to optimize and improve existing processing conditions and to increase the valorization of by-products (oil, protein, and shell). More cost-effective live storage systems on and off shore have to be developed to secure optimal animal welfare during transport to the destination market.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2018-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-12