Disasters strike Alaskan crab fishery

Several men were lost in two separate incidents, just as the multimillion-dollar Bering Sea snow crab fishery opened this week, with bad weather and vessels overloaded with heavy crab traps likely responsible for the mishaps.

Meanwhile, oil from a shipwrecked freighter has drifted up on beaches in Unalaska on the Aleutian Island chain, centre of the lucrative commercial crab fishery.

Seafood inspectors in Unalaska are keeping an eye on boats as they land their catch, reports the Anchorage Daily News, while crab boats are following special corridors to keep them out of areas where oil has been spotted.

This year’s quota for crab is 20 million pounds, worth about $35 million U.S.