The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) in the Barents Sea: Soviet introduction, population expansion and the emergence of the Norwegian fishery
[ Abstract ]
Abstract
The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) was deliberately transferred from the North Pacific to the Barents Sea by Soviet scientists between 1961 and 1969, with the aim of creating a new commercial resource. This narrative review synthesises openly available peer-reviewed literature, reports of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (HI), Norwegian parliamentary and ministry documents and international assessments to trace the species from introduction to managed fishery. Releases of larvae, juveniles and adults into the Kola (Murmansk) Fjord area led to a reproducing population within about a decade; the crab was first recorded in Norwegian waters in the second half of the 1970s, became abundant in Varangerfjord in the early 1990s and has since spread westwards along the Finnmark coast to around Tromsø. A joint Norwegian–Russian research fishery began in 1994, Norway opened a commercial fishery in 2002 and Russia in 2004, and from 2007 each country has managed its own part of the stock. Norway has since 2008 run a dual regime: a quota-regulated fishery east of 26°E and an open fishery to the west intended to slow spread. HI assessments show a generally declining trend in the harvestable stock since the early 2000s with marked year-to-year swings, reflected in male quotas ranging from 900 to 2,275 tonnes between 2009 and 2025. The review discusses the crab's dual status as a valuable resource and an invasive species with documented effects on benthic communities, and identifies gaps in ecosystem quantification, Norwegian–Russian assessment coherence and socio-economic evaluation.
Keywords
- red king crab
- Paralithodes camtschaticus
- Barents Sea
- introduced species
- invasive species
- fisheries management
- Finnmark
- Norway
[ How to cite ]
How to cite
Besolov, R. (2026). The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) in the Barents Sea: Soviet introduction, population expansion and the emergence of the Norwegian fishery (Crab Fisheries Review Series, No. 01) [Preprint]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23623088