Value creation of small king crabs through targeted capture, live storage and feeding in cages at sea
Informations
- Funding country
Norway- Acronym
- -
- URL
- -
- Start date
- 1/1/2022
- End date
- 12/31/2025
- Budget
- 738,000 EUR
Fundings
| Name | Role | Start | End | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Resources and the Environment (MARINFORSK) - call 2016 | Grant | - | - | 738,000 EUR |
Abstract
Meat obtained from red king crab is considered to be delicate and sensorial attractive among consumers. In 2021, the Norwegian export volume and value amounted to 2261 tons and 999 mill. NOK. This is all time high. The main share of the red king crab volume exported is from the quota regulated area which is west of the 26 longitude, i.e., east of Honningsvåg. However, the crab is moving further west, into the so-called free fishing area. There are no quotas of the red king crab in this area, and it is an overall aim to fish the crabs in this areas to limit its distribution further west. The market demands crabs of minimum 1.6 kg, thus, the incentive among the fishermen to fish smaller crabs is missing. In this project, we aim to create values of the small red king crabs applying live holding with feeding until the crabs reach commercial sizes of minimum 1.6 kg. At the same time, such a goaloriented fishery in the free fishery zone will contribute to minimize its further expansion to the west. In this project, difference types of feed and feeding regimen will be tested. Also, the animal welfare will be explored during the live holding. After reaching commercial sizes, the quality attributes of the red king crab will be explored and compared to wild caught red king crab. In this project, the value creation is basically to build knowledge on how to accomplish live holding and feeding until reaching commercial weight classes. When using this knowledge, the valuecreation is accomplished. If we succeed, this project will generate new and stable jobs in the western parts of Finnmark, close to the free fishing area.