Alaskan King Crab is expensive and pretty hard to get in New Zealand but I got to try some in November last year. However, since October 2010, fishermen have been given the go ahead for an exploratory permit to catch king crab in New Zealand waters. Sadly, it seems that the market for this crab is not destined for New Zealanders.

“…could be marketed as high-value products in Europe, Asia and the US, as the practice of catching them in pots allowed for live exporting. King crabs, which grow up to 1.2m long, are a valuable commodity in the Northern Hemisphere.”

I’m still baffled as to why people don’t eat crab here in NZ. Perhaps a thriving crab industry in NZ will change this? I hope so.

If not, let’s hope a king crab industry right here in NZ will mean reasonably priced king crab for the handful of us that like to grapple with these pincy critters. I hope it doesn’t all go to the overseas market! That would be sad indeed.

Read the full article here at NZ Herald.

To give an idea of the size of these things, here’s a woman holding one a lovely specimen. Photo from wiki article

If you haven’t seen the Discovery Channel programme Deadliest Catch, the Alaskan King Crab industry is a dangerous but lucrative one. Killer seas and crazy weather make for dramatic profession. From Wiki: “The death rate during the main crab seasons averages out to nearly one fisherman per week”