# Alaska Snow Crab season canceled after 1 billion crabs go missing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254 "2022-10-14T14:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/1 "2022-10-14T14:36:45Z")
Not a joke: > From CBS News: > **[Alaska snow crab season canceled as officials investigate disappearance of an...](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/fishing-alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-investigation-climate-change/)** > > An estimated 1 billion crabs have mysteriously disappeared from Alaskan waters in two years, officials said. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/2 "2022-10-14T14:38:59Z")
I guess there will be more Norway episodes of Deadliest Catch. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/3 "2022-10-14T14:39:43Z")
Maybe spiking buffet prices will wake some fat-asses up to the seriousness of climate change. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/4 "2022-10-14T16:28:34Z")
A billion crabs don’t just go ‘missing’. We should be worried about a surprise attack. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/5 "2022-10-14T16:30:42Z")
Everyone needs to stockpile drawn butter, hammers and forks. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/6 "2022-10-14T16:45:57Z")
And prepare the bib armor. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/7 "2022-10-14T16:48:15Z")
I, for one, welcome our Snow Crab overlords ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/8 "2022-10-14T16:48:59Z")
Has anyone checked Sarah Palin’s pubes? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/9 "2022-10-14T16:50:44Z")
I think Putin has stolen them in reprisal for our economic sanctions. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/10 "2022-10-14T16:52:36Z")
Alaska waters have been overfished for decades, first by our Seattle overlords before statehood, and then by the Japanese and American fleets. The giant king crabs of the past are a distant memory, the salmon runs are iffy nowadays. When it’s all gone, the people who make their livings off of the fisheries will be scratching their heads and bellyaching about their loss of livelihood. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/11 "2022-10-14T17:06:07Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > A billion crabs don’t just go ‘missing’. We should be worried about a surprise attack. They’re out there and plotting their attack. A million snow crabs per Red Lobster restaurant, swarming over the dining room and kitchen. Pulling the arms and legs off the diners and the cooks. “See how you like it.” ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/12 "2022-10-14T17:11:06Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Alaska waters have been overfished for decades, first by our Seattle overlords before statehood, and then by the Japanese and American fleets. The giant king crabs of the past are a distant memory, the salmon runs are iffy nowadays. When it’s all gone, the people who make their livings off of the fisheries will be scratching their heads and bellyaching about their loss of livelihood. Maybe last year’s catch really was the deadliest. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/13 "2022-10-14T17:58:55Z")
The missing crabs represent 90% of the total population, according to that article. I wonder if that is recoverable. “Is anyone here a marine biologist?”. If a resource (even renewable ones) is there for the taking and money can me made, its a safe bet that humans will take it until it is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/14 "2022-10-14T18:01:43Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Everyone needs to stockpile drawn butter, hammers and forks. [![](https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-14-2022/WsgzJ9.gif) ](https://i.makeagif.com/media/10-14-2022/WsgzJ9.gif) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/15 "2022-10-14T18:11:12Z")
While true, if left alone or humans intervene to help it’s possible for recovery: > **[Once vanished, the Pismo clam is back — and Pismo Beach is thrilled](https://www.courthousenews.com/once-vanished-the-pismo-clam-is-back-and-pismo-beach-is-thrilled/)** > > Once thought to be extinct in the area, the Pismo clam is back in numbers that may be in the millions. Of course, the AK commercial crabbing industry may wither and die-off in the time it takes to recover, but first research needs to be done to find-out what occurred to determine if there is any thing that can be done at all. A 90% decline in a year is pretty substantial. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/16 "2022-10-14T18:15:08Z")
Conscription madness taken to new heights. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/17 "2022-10-14T19:17:32Z")
**Modnote** , this is pretty inappropriate, please refrain from crude remarks about women as potshot jokes. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/18 "2022-10-14T19:28:32Z")
Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/19 "2022-10-14T19:56:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Alaska waters have been overfished for decades, first by our Seattle overlords before statehood, and then by the Japanese and American fleets. The giant king crabs of the past are a distant memory, the salmon runs are iffy nowadays. When it’s all gone, the people who make their livings off of the fisheries will be scratching their heads and bellyaching about their loss of livelihood. Yeah, there is no “mystery”- the crabs were overfished. It happens time and time again. The animals sometime comes back, but the issues are- how long of a life? Does the pressure keep on the fish? So, if you have a deep water fish that lives decades and decades, they usually do not have a fast reproductive replacement rate. And if the pressure keeps on them- like Blue Fin Tuna- they can never really recover. > [@MikeF](#): > > The missing crabs represent 90% of the total population, according to that article. I wonder if that is recoverable. “Is anyone here a marine biologist?”. Well, that is my degree, but my specialty was Littoral Ecology, and I have not working in the field, other than as a volunteers for decades. Without reading many studies, the issue is very likely overfishing- like hoofbeats vs horses and zebras. > **[Marine Fish Population Collapses: Consequences for Recovery and Extinction Risk](https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/54/4/297/284117)** > > Abstract. Rapid declines threaten the persistence of many marine fish. Data from more than 230 populations reveal a median reduction of 83% in breeding populati _Rapid declines threaten the persistence of many marine fish. Data from more than 230 populations reveal a median reduction of 83% in breeding population size from known historic levels. Few populations recover rapidly; most exhibit little or no change in abundance up to 15 years after a collapse. Reductions in fishing pressure, although clearly necessary for population recovery, are often insufficient. …Unprecedented reductions in abundance and surprisingly low rates of recovery draw attention to scientists’ limited understanding of how fish behavior, habitat, ecology, and evolution affect population growth at low abundance. Failure to prevent population collapses, and to take the conservation biology of marine fishes seriously, will ensure that many severely depleted species remain ecological and numerical shadows in the ecosystems that they once dominated._ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254/20 "2022-10-14T19:56:41Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > A billion crabs don’t just go ‘missing’. We should be worried about a surprise attack. I would figure that it is illegal crabbing rather than anything else - as well as pollution and the sea warming up changing the environment enough that breeding didn’t take place [or the crablings died] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alaska-snow-crab-season-canceled-after-1-billion-crabs-go-missing/973254.md?page=2)