Russia's fishing sector says IUU crab harvests now 'insignificant'

The scale of illegal crab fishing in Russian waters was insignificant in 2016 and did not have any noticeable impact on the crab market or on the stability of the Far Eastern crab stock, according to Russia’s Association of the Far Eastern Crab Catchers (AFECC).

Last year, Russia’s overall crab harvest reached 73,300 metric tons -- a record high level since the 1990s, Alexander Duplyakov, head of AFECC, told IntraFish.

However, Russian crab landings in China, Korea, Japan, the United States, Canada and the EU last year totaled 85,300 metric tons in catch weight, according to statistical data on seafood imports  from each of these countries.

While