The Crabs Behind Deadliest Catch

by Charlie Snow
   I know reality TV can be a little annoying, however, Deadliest Catch is one reality TV
show I will not let fall into this category. Documenting the lives of crab fishermen from season to season, there’s a lot to keep track of when watching: who’s inheriting the boat, friendships, fights, deaths, arrests. The most important part of Deadliest Catch, the thing that keeps the show going, however, is crab. So welcome to a biological explanation of all the crabs of Deadliest Catch.
   “All the crabs” really just refers to two types of crab, King crab and Opilio crab. During
October, the boats race to collect their quotas of king crab and in January, they do the same for opilio crab, with seasons lasting from as little as four days to up to four weeks. Each crab season is filled with drama, disaster, and death, and yet little is known about either species. 
   King crab is arguably the most well known crab species. With a leg span of up to five feet and spiky shells reaching up to 11 inches, these crabs are some of the largest in the ocean. Typically, these creatures reside in waters only 28-55 degrees Fahrenheit and can be found, “in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska, and south to British Columbia, Canada,” according to the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA). These crabs can range from brown to a cold bluish red in color and have two distinctly different sized claws, a larger one for catching prey and a smaller one for more delicate handling of the food. Each female crab can up to 500,000 eggs at a time and once they have grown to be a decent size (which they do through shedding their old skin and growing a new one) King crab don’t really have that many predators unless they’ve just molted. These crabs average out to be around 6-8 pounds but have been known to reach almost 20 pounds and a pound of king crab can cost as little as $33, making them one of the most affordable crabs on the market. Last year, the total Alaskan king crab catch totalled at about 6 million pounds, worth of $73 million dollars. Another interesting fact about these crab is that only male king crab are allowed to be harvested, and there are over 120 differest species that fall under the umbrella term of ‘king crab’. Only three species, however, are commercially fished
Opelio crabs, though less well knows, are also important for bringing in the money. Also known as snow crabs, these creatures have four pairs of walking legs as opposed to the king crab (which only has three). Their shells are much rounder and have less spikes than king crabs and their coloring ranges from brownish on top to a pale yellow on their bellies. Opelio live at shallower depths than king crab and can be found, “off the coast of Alaska in the Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas.” With only a 6 inch shell diameter, these crabs are much smaller than king crab, however, once snow crab have reached maturity, they undergo a terminal molt, meaning they never molt again after that, as opposed to the king crab’s regular molting. Opelio crab are known to live about 20 years and are preyed on by a wide variety of creatures such as, “seals, sea otters, octopi, other crabs, and a wide variety of fish.” Opelio crab is usually sold in clusters that go for 20$-28$ per pound. Like king crab, only male opelios may be harvested, and in 2020 almost 37 million pounds of opelio were harvested, totaling at over $101 million.
   So no matter what tricks are pulled, what ships struggle, who betrays who in the
desperate search for crab, let’s remember the reason all of it happens. As many of the
crewmen and captains say on Deadliest Catch, “Crab in king.”

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/red-king-crab