The US market is facing a shortage of king crab without Russian supplies

"There are no substitutes" for Russian king crab, especially large ones, Tkachenko said at the Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) held in La Quinta, California from Jan. 16-19. Last May, prior to the June ban, there was a sharp increase in imports of Russian king crab, and there is still some volume left for sale. “Due to the sanctions against Russia, since June, the products have not arrived. King crab will become very scarce in 2023. Then the king crab fishery in Bristol Bay will also be closed for the second year in a row,” said Janice Schreiber of Urner Barry, who was an analyst with the group. Meanwhile, U.S. market prices for king crab are falling despite no imports since last June, when a ban on Russian products went into effect, Tkachenko said. “The only reason the price is still holding is because nothing else is coming in,” he said. “It will be interesting to see what happens to pricing once Russian supplies are sold over the next few months.” In 2022, even with the ...