The ecological collapse of snow crabs in Alaska’s southeastern Bering Sea is almost entirely attributable to human-induced climate warming, new NOAA research found.
In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, NOAA Fisheries scientists said the gradual warming process called “borealization” — essentially the shift from Arctic to sub-Arctic conditions — is the primary driver of the disappearance of snow crabs from their native habitat.
Scientists say the findings foreshadow what’s likely to be a continuing snow crab decline based on projected warming of between 1 and 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels.
Moreover, models suggest the southeastern Bering sea will experience Arctic conditions in only 8 percent of future years, a condition that could “potentially signal the northward displacement of the important commercial fishery from its traditional grounds,” the agency said in a release.
