Snow Crab Stocks in Sea of Japan Seen Halving in 3 Years

November 6, 2018

Tokyo, Nov. 6 (Jiji Press)--Snow crab stocks in Sea of Japan waters around Japan are feared to decline from next year and nearly halve from the current level in three years, an estimate by a state-backed institute has shown.

This year's fishing season for snow crabs, a winter delicacy in the country, started on Tuesday.

While the reason for the predicted decline is unclear, the number of snow crabs that die within three years of birth may be increasing, said the Japan Sea National Fisheries Research Institute, based in the central Japan city of Niigata, which faces the Sea of Japan.

On behalf of the Fisheries Agency, the institute surveyed in May-June the estimated resources of the crab at 137 locations in a Sea of Japan area between waters off the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa and those west of the Oki Islands in the western prefecture of Shimane.

Under state-set standards, catchers are permitted for male snow crabs with shells 9 centimeters wide or more and female ones that are mature enough to spawn.

According to the survey, the amount of male and female snow crabs that meet the standards was almost unchanged from normal years. But that of juvenile crabs was the lowest in two decades.

The estimated amount of snow crabs in the surveyed area stood at some 22,000 tons and has been on the increase until this year.

But an analysis made on the basis of the estimated juvenile crab stocks found that the amount of snow crabs is expected to decline to 19,000 tons next year, to 15,000 tons in 2020 and to 12,000 tons in 2021.

"We believe that the number of eggs laid by snow crabs is not on the decline, but the proportion of crabs that die within three years of birth seems to be rising," Yuji Ueda, head of the institute's Fisheries Biology Group, said, adding that the group has a tough outlook four to five years ahead. Jiji Press