The release of near 200,000 small King Crabs happend earlier this summer from the marine research station at Dalniye Zelentsy east of Murmansk on the coast of the Kola Peninsula.
It is the first time Russia release artificially reared king crab brood in such great numbers. The red king crab (or Kamchatka crab) was first introduced to the Barents Sea from Russia’s Far East in the 60-ties.
The initiative of scientific institutions to enhance the population of red king crab in the waters of the Barents Sea can only be described as voodoo and sabotage, says Igor Pakholkov in an interview with Regnum. Pakholkov is deputy director and fleet manager of Murmansk fishing company Zolotaya Rybka. The company is a member of the coastal fishery association and focused on coastal Kamchatka crab hunting.
Read also: The environmental danger of king crab
The king crab has no natural enemies in the Barents Sea and the stock has increased rapidly since the late 80-ties. In the early 90-ties the king crab started to appear in the fjords of Eastern Finnmark in Norway. Since then, the population has grown immensely. Some estimates say there are more than 20 million in the Barents Sea.
Many environmentalists and scientists say the species negatively alters the sea’s natural biodiversity. The consequence of the king crab explosion may be that native species disappear.
Igor Pakholkov says the king crab is not a natural inhabitant of the northern seas, and they violate the natural balance in the marine ecosystem. They destroy the traditional fish species, he says.
-There is only one way to deal with the king crab, that is, allowing free fishing, Pakholov says in the interview with Regnum.
