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Interesting Facts About the Red King Crab

Red king crabs are considered to be some of the most delicious crabs in the world. This also makes them some of the most sought after. Native to the Bering Sea coast of Alaska and Russia, red king crabs are found in Bristol Bay, the Kamchatka shelf, the Gulf of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. In addition to their delectable anatomy, some of the more interesting facts about red king crabs concern their status as an invasive species in Norway and the fishing industry that harvests them.

Anatomy
- Red king crabs found in the wild are dark red in appearance. Once cooked, their shells turn a bright red. Most species of crab turn orange when cooked. Red king crabs are the largest crabs in the sea, with a carapace width of 11 inches and a leg span of up to five feet. Each crab has five pairs of legs. The front pair contain the claws and the middle three are used for walking. The rear pair are much smaller than the rest and are tucked under the body of the crab except during mating.
Life of a Crab
- Red king crabs begin their lives as embryos that feed on plankton and plant matter. These embryos swim like fish for several months until, after several shell moltings, the crab becomes the nonswimming bottom crawler we recognize today. The world's largest crabs start out smaller than a dime. They can live as long as 20 years, and males in the Kodiak region of Alaska have been known to migrate 100 miles a year to mate. Males can weigh up to 24 pounds and females as much as 10 pounds.
Invasive Species
- In the 1960s the Soviet Union wanted to introduce more valuable commercial seafood to the Barents Sea and began releasing the red king crab into the environment. In the 1990s the Convention on Biological Diversity classified it as "an invasive alien species." In 2010 the red king crab population off the coast of Norway consumed more than 250,000 tons of fish. However, the crab's value as a commercial seafood in the 21st century has outweighed its environmental cost. In 2010, red king crabs represented only 2 percent of the total seafood harvest in the Barents Sea but accounted for 15 percent of the revenue.
Deadly Catch
- Red king crabs are one of the most valuable catches in the ocean. Their value last peaked in the early 1980s when boat owners made $1 to $2 million per season. Their value has declined since then, although they remain the most lucrative catch in the sea. In 2009 the Alaska Department of Fish and Game listed the wholesale price of red king crab at around $4.70 per pound, higher than any other seafood. Red king crab harvesting is one of the deadliest jobs in the world. The fatality rate is 90 times higher than any other U.S. occupation, according to website Alaskan KingCrab.

Nature