Russia’s total allowable catch (TAC) of opilio crab in 2020 will be increased, thanks to the efforts of fishery scientific organizations and investments into expeditions that have discovered new stocks of the species.
Opilio was first found in abundance in the Kara Sea in 2013. Last year, a trans-Arctic expedition, organized by the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), studied the volume of the stock to determine if it is big enough to be worth harvesting.
Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries Head Ilya Shestakov recently announced the scientific research demonstrated that there is sufficient stock for fishing. Russia's Ministry of Agriculture subsequently proposed amendments to the TAC 2020, approved late last year, to add additional crab and takes of a few other species. According to Shestakov, there may be nearly 1,000 metric tons (MT) of opilio to be auctioned this year after the amendments are be signed into law.
Crab quotas are allocated for a period of 15 years, though Russia did recently change how crab quotas were allocated from a historical model to auctions, despite heavy criticism from members of the crab industry.
It’s still unclear how the thermophilic, warmer-water species appeared in the cold sea, which has a scarce food supply. Shestakov cited a natural migration from Russia’s Far East’s seas to the Barents Sea through the Russian Arctic, which has created some surprising biological issues, as a possible reason.
Miron Borgulev, the head of the Sustainable Marine Fishery Program at World Wildlife Fund-Russia, said in an interview with RIA Novosti news agency that the species was first seen in the Barents Sea in 1996, and a few years later, in 2007, it was discovered on the border of the Barents and Kara Seas. More recently, in 2013, it was also found in the Kara Sea.
In Borgulev’s opinion, opilio was brought to the area in ballast waters of vessels going through the Russian Arctic along the Northern Sea Route. At first, they appeared in the Barents Sea and then migrated to the Kara. Climate change has caused the warming of the Kara Sea, improving living conditions for the crab there, he said.
"So it’s possible that opilio will stay here,” he added.
Meanwhile, exports of Russian crabs fell in the first half of 2020. In comparison to the first six months of 2019, volumes dropped by 20 percent and their value received dropped 15 percent. Exports fell from 42,000 MT, worth USD 620 million (EUR 519.6 million) to 34,000 MT worth USD 525 (EUR 440 million), according to the All-Russian Association of Fishing Industry (VARPE).
Photo courtesy of Pasakorn Hansetagan/Shutterstock
