Norway will reduce the male king crab fishing quota in 2019 by 350 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 20%.

Norway's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries said the quota reduction means Norwegian fishermen can catch 1,400 tons of male king crabs next year, compared with 1,750 tons in 2018. But so far this year, Norway has exported 1,900 tons of king crab worth NOK 548 million ($64.5 million), according to the Norwegian Seafood Council.

At the beginning of the year, according to data from the GSMC Forecast Network, the output of red king crabs in Alaska in the United States in 2018 was about 3,000 tons, which was lower than last year’s 4,000 tons. Among Russia, the United States, and Norway, Norway had the least catch of about 3,000 tons. It was 2,000 tons. By the end of November, the export volume had reached 1,900 tons. The fishing volume was almost in line with the forecast at the beginning of the year.

In Norway, king crab fishing has changed from intermittent fishing to year-round fishing in the past decade, and many fishermen have modified their fishing boats to process king crab.

Due to demand in Asia and the United States, the price of Norwegian king has reached record levels recently. In the northern area of ??Finnmark, the waters have attracted nearly 100 fishing boats to fish here.

Fisheries Minister Harald Neswijk said: "The number of king crabs has decreased significantly in recent years." Now scientists say that if this situation continues, it may cause the company's share price to decline. plummeted. This shouldn't happen. We need to take good care of the crabs, this is our management system. "

The current quota for female king crabs is 100 tons, the same as in 2018. The ministry said the minimum size target for crab shells caught has been raised to 130 mm "to avoid overfishing of its population. The problem of slow recovery in numbers is that the quota mainly applies to the eastern part of the Finnmark.

The Directorate of Fisheries recently consulted on regulations for king crab fishing in 2019, which will be decided by early next year.