Could this be a solution to Alaska's crab woes? This company and its 'Deadliest Catch' captains think so

Last month, the surprise closure of the Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow crab fisheries sent buyers already pressured by the halting of imports from Russia scrambling for alternatives -- but with few places to go.

But one viable alternative is emerging, and suppliers and celebrity fishermen are hoping to see it gain momentum.

Alaska golden king crab, whose strong populations prompted regulators to allow a sizeable harvest this season, was already gaining consumer awareness after a name change from brown king crab a few years ago, according to Keyport President and CEO Mark Pedersen.

Retailers and restaurants have found it a good substitute for red king crab amid declining quotas and rising prices, Pedersen said. He expects demand will only accelerate with the Bristol Bay closures.

While there are some other alternatives available, Pedersen noted the species has the advantage of being harvested from Alaska waters -- a "big factor" for the company's key buyers -- as well as a steady quota an reliable supply.

For 2022, the total allowable catch (TAC) of golden king crab is 5.05 million pounds, which is nearly 33 percent larger than the red king crab TAC set in 2019-2020 before that fishery was closed.

For the past several years, the TAC for golden king crab has been holding steady, while the TAC for red king crab has been declining, according to NOAA data.

Hollywood banking on gold

Keyport has taken advantage of the shift and recruited "Deadliest Catch" captains -- some of whom supply product to Keyport -- to help market the product as sweeter because of the unique environment where the crab is found.

Golden king crab comes from the Bering Sea's Aleutian Trench, a deep-sea trench that runs along the coastline of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

However, the remote location of the golden king fishery on the steep and rocky underwater slopes of the Aleutian Islands, where crabs are found as deep as 1,800 feet below sea level, also makes the fishery more challenging than red king crab to access.

Red king crab settle in waters less than 90 feet deep in the Bering Sea, with Alaska's Bristol Bay and the Kodiak Archipelago being the centers of its abundance in Alaska.

Golden king's habitat may help populations stay stable in years to come. Climate change warming the Bering Sea is the most likely cause for the disappearance of Alaska's red king crabs over the past decade, according to NOAA.

Size is a challenge

While the species is a potential replacement, swapping out golden king for red king isn't a straight across trade, however.

When compared to red and blue king crab -- whose males can grow up to 24 pounds -- golden crab are smaller in size, averaging 5–8 pounds.

"The value will be in Norwegian red crab inventories, which will produce the larger sized crab products for US consumers," he said.

Availability and price may hamper the success of that species in the US market as well, however.

Pedersen said the best way to sum up the outlook is that it's still a guessing game, especially with direct imports of Russian crab into the US banned earlier this year in reaction to the invasion of Ukraine.

"The US crab market is in somewhat uncharted territory due to the combination of the Russian embargo and closures," he said.

Of the $1.2 billion (€1 billion) in seafood imported from Russia by the United States in 2021, crab accounted for the largest portion, with frozen snow crab and frozen red king crab accounting for over $900 million (€796 million).