King crabs scare fishermen

Fishermen along Norway’s northern coast caught four king crabs in their nets last week, and the catch scared them.

Fishing industry experts believe the king crabs will damage the marine environment around the Lofoten fishing grounds.

The area serves as a spawning ground for the Norwegian and Russian cod industry, and the fishermen worry the crabs will eat up everything in sight. No one knows how the crabs wound up in the nets of brothers Ivar and Henrik Myklebust.

“When we first found one crab in our net, and then three more, it occurred to me that maybe someone planted them,” Ivar Myklebust told wire service NTB. He added, “I got shivers down my spine when I saw them come up” from the water.

Tourism officials farther north hope the crabs can lure visitors interested in going after them. Jens Harald Henssen of Finnmark Reiseliv thinks so-called “crab safaris” could be as popular as moose safaris. Two Japanese tour operators already have expressed interest.