Russia takes advantage of Canadian crab woes, boosting exports to United States

Russia is taking advantage of poor crab catches in Canada to drive up its market share in the United States and firm up prices.

More than 90 percent of Russia’s crab harvests are annually exported, mainly to the United States and Asia-Pacific.

In 2020, however, Russia sharply increased its opilio snow crab exports to the United States, taking advantage of the poor catches in Canada to raise prices. In August alone, Russian opilio snow crab shipments to the United States jumped 84 percent year-on-year to 3,300 metric tons.