The Russian Red King Crab fishery in the Barents Sea has become the first king crab fishery in the world to achieve Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.
The certification was awarded by independent certifier Acoura Marine following a detailed assessment.
The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) is also known as the Kamchatka crab or Alaskan king crab and is native to the Okhotsk and Japan seas, the Bering Sea and the northern Pacific Ocean.
The crab was introduced to the Barents Sea by Soviet fishery scientists between 1961 and 1969 and today, this species is common in the southern Barents Sea shelf from northern Norway in the west to Kolguev Island in the east.
