Overall Goal
The overall goal of the subgroup "Global Ecological and Economic Connections in Arctic and Sub-Arctic Crab Fisheries" is to understand the ecological shifts in marine productivity and/or economic transformations in fisheries markets that we expect due to climate change, technological developments, and shifts in consumer preferences.
We address this goal through an international, interdisciplinary network focused on a comprehensive view of global interactions in evolving Arctic and sub-Arctic crab fisheries and markets. The network is broadly interdisciplinary and international, consisting of natural resource economists, ecologists, risk perception experts, and other individuals with market and regulatory expertise on crab fisheries. Through this research, we seek a more complete understanding of potential risks and opportunities related to shifting global market conditions for global Arctic and sub-Arctic crabs: the Red King (P. camtschaticus) and Snow crabs (C. opilio) that are widely consumed in Japan and Korea. While the crab markets are themselves important, they also provide an important opportunity to investigate how ecological shifts in marine productivity will interact with other market shifts. With significant increases in sea temperatures and other climatic shifts in the Arctic expected, many species and ecosystems face challenges to their productivity and resilience, creating both risk and opportunity. The crabs present excellent complementary vanguard cases for deeply analyzing these important and uncertain future transitions.
Main Activities
The subgroup will perform academic research at an international level, increasing impact on social sciences, ecology and management. The activities will aim to identify the distribution of changes in benefits and costs among stakeholders. The subgroup will investigate:
- Crab shifts as preview of climate change impacts to come
- Risk perceptions and preferences of consumers and producers.
Furthermore, the subgroup will reach out to governance organizations, communities and stakeholders engaged in the crab markets.
Current and Planned Activities
- Research Activities to develop research connections and data collection, particularly for questions:
- (1) using differences in climatic and ecological conditions and fishing pressure to investigate compounding effects on crab stocks
- (2) investigating changes in regulations and international agreements regarding IUU fishing for crabs
- (3) understanding the crabs in socio-cultural context, including its use in tourism across regions