FishWatch

Red crab, green fishery

The red king crab fishery in Bristol Bay hasn't always been the model of sustainability it is today. Shortly after peak harvests in 1980, the red king crab stock collapsed and managers cut harvest levels for the next two decades to rebuild the stock. The fishery was also operating as a "derby"— anyone could enter and the fishery was closed when the catch limit was reached. This meant that when the fishery opened, everyone raced out to get as much of the allowed catch as quickly as they could, regardless of the weather and market conditions or the environment. This made for an inefficient, unsafe fishery that wasn't very profitable. And it wasn't doing much to help the crab resource rebuild either.

To improve these conditions, managers implemented an individual fishing quota (IFQ) for the fishery in 2005, replacing the derby-style fishery. Under the IFQ system, individual fishermen are given a share of the harvest and can catch their share at any time during the fishing season. This has resulted in a safer and more efficient fishery with a longer season, as fishermen can take weather and economic factors into account when deciding when to fish. According to CNN Money's article, there has only been one death in the fishery in the past six years (compared to an average of more than 7 deaths a year in the 1990s).

The Bristol Bay red king crab population has finally bounced back, too. Under the new system, fishermen leave their traps in the water longer, which allows undersized crab to escape and grow to legal size. Since they're no longer rushing, fishermen have time to properly handle females, which cannot be harvested, so they can be safely returned to the water to reproduce. According to the most recent estimates, mature females are almost 3 times more abundant than they were in 1985, and mature males are 2.2 times more abundant.

Under several years of innovative management, the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery has become one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States. The derby fishery brought a lot of cheap crab to the market for a short period of time; with a longer fishing season under the IFQ system, the market is no longer flooded and crab can be sold at higher, more stable prices. Value has increased by more than 100 percent because of the IFQ system —last year, crabs sold for nearly $7 a pound (compared to $3 a pound in 2005).

The Three P's of Sustainability

Many people typically talk about sustainable seafood in relation to the environment; for example, whether or not a fish population is being depleted or if a fishery has any impact on other animals or ocean habitats. Ensuring the long-term health of the environment is a major part of the conversation, but it's not the full story. Supporting the communities and economies that depend on the environment is an important aspect of sustainable seafood, too.

The Magnuson-Stevens Act, the main law driving fishery conservation and management in the United States, requires that U.S. fisheries meet 10 national standards of sustainability. These standards work to sustain not only our fishery resources (fish and shellfish) and the ecosystems in which they live (habitat and other marine animals) but also the people that depend upon these resources (commercial and recreational fishing industries and coastal communities).

So while our fishery scientists and managers are continuously working to rebuild depleted fish populations and maintain healthy ones, protect vulnerable ocean life, and protect and restore coastal and marine habitat, they're also working to improve our management approaches to better meet the needs of fishermen and coastal communities. This means making sure fishermen are safe and fisheries operate efficiently and profitably, along with minimizing their impact on the environment.

Remember, to sustainably manage a fishery, you must balance the three P's—people, profit, and planet. Simultaneously protecting the red king crab population and the lives and livelihoods of the crab fishermen has been a win-win—and it's what sustainable seafood is all about.

Reference:
CNN Money's "'Deadliest Catch' not so deadly anymore" , 7.27.12