January 11, 2008 - SFB Staff — Russia on Wednesday slashed its 2008 king crab quota by 16 percent in a move to restore crab populations exhausted by poaching.

Alexander Savelyev, a spokesman for Russia’s Fishing Committee, told the Vladivostok News that the total allowable catch is set at 51,761 metric tons, down from 61,539 metric tons in 2007.

In 2006, the quota was set at 60,000 metric tons. However, due to widespread illegal fishing, the actual harvest was closer to 150,000 metric tons, Savelyev said, with most of the catch exported to Japan, South Korea, China and the United States.