Documentaries on the fishing of real crab and other varieties of crabs have been broadcast for many years in the Bering Sea.
In these documentaries, we can observe the harsh working conditions of hard-working and courageous fishermen who perform in one of the most dangerous professions in the world.
Read this Animal Expert article and discover Bering Sea crabs
The red royal crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, also known as Alaska’s giant crab, is the main target of Alaska’s crab fleet.
It should be noted that this fishing is controlled according to strict parameters, so it is a sustainable fishing.Females and crabs that do not reach a minimum size are immediately returned to the sea, fishing quotas are very limited.
The red king crab has a shell 28 cm wide and its long legs can separate 1.80 meters from one end to the other, this species of crab is the most valuable of all, its natural color is a reddish tone.
The blue royal crab is another valuable species that is caught on the islands of Sao Mateus and Pribilof, its color is brown with blue reflections.Specimens weighing 8 kg were captured, their claws are larger than those of other species, blue crabs are more delicate than red crabs, perhaps because they live in very cold waters.
Snow crab is another specimen caught during the month of January in the Bering Sea, its size is much smaller than the previous ones, its fishing is very dangerous because it is carried out in the middle of the Arctic winter, all these fisheries are currently highly regulated by the authorities.
The Bairdi crab, or Tanner crab, has in the past suffered an overfishing that has endangered its existence, ten years of vede have allowed a complete recovery of the population, today the fishing vede has already been lifted.
Golden crab is caught in the Aleutian Islands, is the smallest species and also the most abundant, its shell has a golden orange hue.
Scarlet royal crab is very rare and very popular, not to be confused with scarlet hermit crab, typical of warm waters.
Hairy crab is a common species in waters other than the Bering Sea and has great commercial importance.
The fishing gear used for crab fishing is the hole or trap
The cantres are a kind of large metal cages, in which the bait (cod and other varieties) is placed, which will then be released and collected after 12 to 24 hours.
Each variety of crab is caught with fishing gear and specific depths, each species has its own fishing season and its own quotas.
Crab fishing boats sometimes face waves of up to 12 meters and temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius, fishermen die each year in these icy waters.
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