Billions of Alaska King Crabs 'Mass Starvation Incident'... "Metabolic Disorder, Unable to Consume Enough Calories"

Causes of Climate Change
8 Billion in 2018 → Sharp Decline to 1 Billion Last Year

In recent years, climate change has been identified as the cause of the decline of billions of snow crabs around Alaska.

On the 21st (local time), according to The Guardian and others, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced research findings suggesting that the disappearance of Alaska snow crabs was not due to indiscriminate overfishing but likely due to starvation caused by climate change.

The research team found a correlation between the rise in sea temperatures in the eastern Bering Sea surrounding Alaska and the decrease in snow crab populations. Snow crabs are cold-water species that primarily inhabit areas below 2 degrees Celsius, and when sea temperatures rise, their metabolism is affected, causing them to consume significantly more calories.

According to the researchers, sea temperatures in the waters near Alaska rose sharply over two years starting in 2018. As a result, the energy required by snow crabs in 2018 increased about fourfold compared to 2017. Additionally, abnormal ocean temperatures made corals and marine life vulnerable, reducing the food available to snow crabs. In other words, snow crabs were unable to consume enough calories necessary for survival and starved to death.

With snow crabs, which have an economic value exceeding $150 million (approximately 202.9 billion KRW), disappearing, economic pressure on related industry workers is also increasing. Benjamin Dailey, a researcher at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said, "The snow crab population in the Bering Sea plummeted from 8 billion in 2018 to 1 billion last year," adding, "It is shocking and noteworthy that the most commonly caught crab in the Bering Sea has decreased so drastically."

Meanwhile, the "blue crab," which has recently become a nuisance by voraciously consuming clams, mussels, and oysters along the coast of Italy, has also been pointed out as a phenomenon related to climate change. The Veneto region of Italy, troubled by the blue crab, declared a state of emergency in August and requested government assistance. The Italian government has allocated a budget of 2.9 million euros, approximately 4.1 billion KRW, to combat the blue crab, effectively declaring a "war against the blue crab."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.