King crab prices hit record high

Each kilogram of King Crad crab currently costs 2.5-3 million VND, an increase of more than 30% compared to a few months ago, the highest level ever.

Last week, Ms. Loan in District 5 (HCMC) was looking to buy King Crab to celebrate her son's birthday but was quite shocked to see the sharp increase in price. "At the end of last year, this type of crab cost 1.9 million VND per kilogram, now seafood stores list it at 2.5 million, an increase of 30%," Ms. Loan said.

Not only in Ho Chi Minh City, the price of red king crab in Hanoi is being sold at nearly 3 million VND per kg for the size of 2-5 kg each. Thus, each crab of this type is sold for 6-15 million VND. This is the highest price ever.

Mr. Le Hoang, owner of an imported seafood store in Hanoi, said that the price of red king crabs has been increasing continuously but the quantity imported is quite limited. His store only imports 5-10 crabs at a time instead of dozens like in previous years.

King crab at a seafood shop in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Linh Dan — King crab at a seafood shop in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: *Linh Dan*

Speaking to VnExpress , Mr. Tran Van Truong - CEO of the Hoang Gia Seafood chain said that the supply of crabs from the US and Canada is scarce due to the end of the fishing season, causing prices in the Vietnamese market to increase.

"Even though we are the official importer with large quantities, this time we were only able to import very little goods and the price kept increasing," Mr. Truong informed.

According to Mr. Truong, this year, not only king crab but also snow crab and Alaska lobster have increased in price compared to the same period last year. The reason is due to scarcity and low sales volume. Some coastal areas in Alaska have been forced to cancel the crab fishing season due to the decreasing yield.

Sharing on CNN, Mr. Benjamin Daly, a researcher in Alaska, said that the production of snow crab and king crab is decreasing sharply. He is worried that these species are at risk of disappearing. An estimated 1 billion snow crabs suddenly disappeared from the Bering Sea.

Recently, the Alaska Fisheries Council and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council announced that the snow crab population in the Bering Sea has fallen below the threshold for opening the fishery.

Similarly, the Bristol Bay red king crab harvest will also be closed for the second year in a row.

Mark Stichert, Alaska’s groundfish and shellfish management coordinator, said there are more crabs being caught in the ocean than can be replaced naturally. That’s a scary number. It’s a devastating blow to the Alaska crab industry and could force many people out of the business.

Thi Ha

Source link