Snow Crab

Snow crabs, which are found in the eastern Bering Sea and Atlantic Canada, have high inherent vulnerability to fishing pressure. In the 1990s, North American snow crab populations were overfished. In 2011, stock assessments showed that the snow crab population in the eastern Bering Sea had recovered from an overfished condition, according to Seafood Watch.

A 2012 Seafood Watch report for the Canadian fisheries found indications of possible future declines in the Eastern Nova Scotia snow crab population. There are moderate concerns about populations in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery. The Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence snow crab population has fluctuated, but Seafood Watch suggested that the current fishing level is unlikely to reduce stock productivity there.

The gear commonly used to fish snow crab tends to consist of large steel mesh traps or pots that soak on the seafloor for one to three days. Gear effects from pots tend to be minimal in snow crab fisheries since they are usually set in soft, muddy habitats, according to Seafood Watch. Such sand and silt environments are less likely to be affected than harder habitats.

Most bycatch in the U.S. snow crab fishery consists of females and undersized males. In the eastern Bering Sea, there is concern about Tanner crab bycatch, which are not experiencing overfishing but have medium vulnerability to fishing pressure. The gear used to catch snow crab is required to have escape rings for undersized crabs and biodegradable mesh to prevent ghost fishing.

Seafood Watch reported that since 2001, encounters with at-risk leatherback turtles have been documented in the Eastern Nova Scotia snow crab fishery and may account for one to five leatherback deaths per year. Two threatened wolffish species are incidentally captured in the Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab fishery.

Snow crab in the U.S. are managed under a federal fisheries management plan overseen by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council that is jointly managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Measures include robust scientific monitoring, annual stock assessments, vessel monitoring systems, and strong stakeholder inclusion. Seafood Watch called management highly effective.

Snow crab fisheries in Canada are managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada using an individual quota system as well as measures such as size limits, total allowable catches, gear restrictions, and area closures. Seafood Watch called management in Eastern Nova Scotia highly effective. However, a 2012 report called management in Newfoundland and Labrador moderately effective due to lack of clearly defined metrics for population health and lack of standardized catch per unit effort measurements over time. The Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence management was also called moderately effective. Although management there is developing a precautionary approach, Seafood Watch said the mechanism used to respond to population trends remained unclear.