Off the coast of Alaska, the Bering Sea is home to a famous group of crustaceans called snow crabs, which, as their name suggests, live in cold waters... But the decline in their numbers in recent years due to rapid warming has prompted the authorities to take unprecedented decisions to protect them.An official decision was issued to completely ban this season any hunting of this species, which nevertheless constitutes a major resource for the population of the region.

According to the last census conducted last summer, the number of snow crabs fell to 1.9 billion in 2022, compared to 11.7 billion in 2018, which means a decline in their numbers by nearly 85%.Biologist Erin Vidio, who has been counting these crabs in Alaska for years, told AFP that climate change is primarily responsible for this catastrophe.Between 2018 and 2019, heat waves caused a significant increase in the temperatures of the depths of the water, and thus “this habitat for cold water that needs it was almost completely eliminated, which indicates that the heat is the actual main responsibility” for this decline, according to Vida, which said that “all the elements It really points to the responsibility for climate change."

These crabs, with round and orange shells (up to 15 cm in length in adult males), were until recently a reliable resource for coastal populations.However, the situation has become difficult for the fishermen of this famous type of lobster in Alaska, according to Jamie Gwen of the Alaska Bearing Sea Crabs, an organization that specializes in the field. "People of the second or third generation of lobster fishermen will be forced to close their shops," she wrote in a post.The Alaska Department of Fishing said in a statement that it understands that "this shutdown will have a significant impact on fishermen, and the industry and community that depend on it." But she noted the "need for long-term preservation" on the genre.

- Two more degrees Celsius -The number of snow crabs has been declining for decades, although after sporadic jumps, the most recent of which in 2018 raised hopes to get this species back on track. But as of 2019, "things have taken a radical turn that has taken everyone by surprise," says Erin Videoa.

During the 2021 survey, "in locations where you would normally be able to catch thousands of snow crabs, there were only a few hundred. That gave me an indication that something was wrong," says VIDEO.Also, another indicator was recorded in recent years, which was the monitoring of crabs in areas more north than usual, that is, in cooler waters.Small crabs especially need a temperature below two degrees Celsius, which allows them, especially, to escape from lurking creatures (some fish or seals).

In the area where you live, the temperature of the water depths in 2017 reached one and a half degrees Celsius. But in 2018, the temperature rose to three and a half degrees Celsius, according to Erin Videoa.