Monday, October 24, 2022 – Alaska’s unprecedented snow crab population collapse

Alaska’s snow crab season is cancelled for the first time ever after a mass die-off all but wiped out the crustaceans in the Bering Sea. Officials estimate the snow crab population plummeted by at least 11 billion in a relatively short time. Many experts theorize warming waters are the main culprit. The harvest is crucial for local economies. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce hears about the immediate implications and concerns about the future of crab harvests with Mike Litzow, marine biologist and director of the Kodiak Lab for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Fisheries; Phillip Zavadil, city manager of St. Paul Island, AK; and Dennis Robinson (Qawalangin Tribe), president of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.