Alaskan King Crab Legs for Sale | Colossal Crab Legs Online (2024)

FAQs

Why is there a shortage of Alaskan king crab legs? ›

Alaskan officials estimate that one billion “missing” crabs represent a drop of 90 percent in population over just two years. Experts say what's happening to crab numbers in the Bering Sea may be a combination of factors, but climate change is first and foremost among those factors.

As we have explained, king crab has a short harvesting season, which leads to limited availability. They also have a limited cold water habitat. Additionally, they have a lobster-like flavor. This makes king crab the more expensive of the two; snow crab legs are typically more affordable than king crab ones.

1983: King crab fishing stocks drop almost sixty-fold — over-fishing and environmental changes are identified as root causes. Warmer waters boosted the volumes of king crab predators (pollock and cod), causing the number of juvenile crabs to significantly decrease.

Alaskan Red and Golden Crab is selling quicky. Expect shortages on those items as well. Norwegian King crab is starting to come in but the quotas were cut and the volume will not be enough to cover the loss of the Russian supply. Recommendation – Prices will continue to rise.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed the commercial red and blue king crab fishery for the 2023-2024 season, the sixth year in a row, citing stock survey numbers that remain well below the regulatory threshold.

King crab vs snow crab taste very differently and their meat is usually used for different purposes. The King crab is known as the best of the best when it comes to crab meat and it is usually a delicacy and eaten on its own or with a buttery dip.

Caught in the waters of Bristol Bay and Norton Sound, the true red king crab is the most prized species of crab in the world, with strong demand from consumers in Japan, the US, and Europe. Alaska's largest harvest of red king crab takes place in the waters of Bristol Bay.

But of course, they're not selling it by the pound. This is Costco after all, and in keeping with their bulk-buying ethos, the king crab is offered in 10-pound boxes — that's $439.99 for a box.

The Southeast Alaska red and blue king crab fisheries will remain closed for commercial harvests in the 2023-24 season following dismal population surveys again this year.

Why is king crab season so short? ›

Several theories for the precipitous drop in the crab population have been proposed, including overfishing, warmer waters, and increased fish predation. As a result, the current season is very short and in the 2010 season, only 24,000,000 pounds (11,000,000 kg) of red king crab were landed.

Molts and shells from snow crab sit on a table in June at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Kodiak, Alaska. Billions of snow crabs have disappeared from the ocean around Alaska in recent years, and scientists now say they know why: Warmer ocean temperatures likely caused them to starve to death.

Snow crab is available fresh nearly year-round, with the Alaskan harvesting season from January to April and Canadian season from April to August. King crab, however, has a much-shorter harvest season, with availability from October to January only. Both varieties are available frozen year-round.