How the war in Ukraine created a new kingdom of king crabs

The sanctions that the US imposed on Russian products at the beginning of the war in Ukraine have now been in place for more than two years, boosting demand for alternatives to Russian export products, including seafood.

Andrew S. Lewis explained in Bloomberg Businessweek that the conflict has expanded markets for Norway’s crab industry. He spoke with “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal about how climate change and the war in Ukraine transformed an Arctic fishing village into a king crab capital.

Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Kai Ryssdal: First, just to set the scene, tell me what happened to this small Norwegian fishing village of Bugøynes (if I pronounce it correctly)?

Andrew S. Lewis: Bugøynes – pretty close. It’s a pretty classic Norwegian fishing village. It fell on really hard times in the late 80s, early 90s, like a lot of fishing villages around the world, especially ones that lived off cod like Bugøynes. In 1991 they were in a really bad situation and in fact they all got together and put an advert in the national newspaper asking someone to buy them out and relocate them. That’s how desperate they were.

Ryssdal: I think that’s my favorite part of the piece. I might try that myself. “Somebody pay me off and take me to a great place.” And then what happened? Because that’s kind of a story – it’s kind of a fishing trip, if you will.

Lewis: It’s a true fishing story. In fact, everything changed very quickly. Only a year later, one of the last fishermen in Bugøynes came, a man called Leif Ingilæ – his family had been in Bugøynes for generations, and he stuck with it even though the fishing was really bad. I think there were still three boats in the harbour at the time. And (one day) he pulls up the net. There are no finfish in it, but there is this huge, threatening, scary crab in his net.

Ryssdal: I’m not a fisherman, but king crabs are an invasive species in northern Norway, right?

Lewis: They are. So it took us a while to figure out what the hell was going on. And then someone at the Norwegian Fisheries Authority figured out that Russia was responsible for all of this. They had to essentially create another source of food for the Russian people in the 1930s under (Soviet leader Josef) Stalin. Stalin’s Fisheries Authority had just a handful of young red king crabs flown across the continent on a military transport plane and dumped them in a fjord not far from the Norwegian border. That is, not far from Bugøynes.

Ryssdal: The story is amazing. OK, that’s the 1930s. Now we’re coming to the 2020s. Russia invades Ukraine, and then what happens? Because that’s the turning point in history.

Lewis: Yes. Well, I mean, Norway and Bugøynes in particular had been building up their king crab fishery since the 90s, since Leif Ingilæ found the first crab, but it was always a niche fishery. Then Putin invaded Ukraine and the sanctions came. And suddenly this country that controlled 94% of the world market was shut out of the US market, and Norway was one of the few places in the world where you could sell king crab.

Ryssdal: And Leif Ingilæ and the gang and Bugøynes are happy campers, right?

Lewis: Very happy campers. Leif, I think, goes on holiday to the Mediterranean every year, as he should. So, yes, I mean, they’re doing well with money now. And you know, we hear a lot of stories about hard times for the fishermen, but everything’s OK up there in northern Norway.

Ryssdal: When I read this article, I tried to figure out if it was a story of happy coincidences or unintended consequences. What do you think?

Lewis: I guess a bit of both. But unintended consequences are definitely the key element here, and it’s a classic story of an invasive species, isn’t it? You know, the king crab has thrown the marine ecosystems of northern Norway out of balance for a long time. Today it’s a bit more balanced. So it’s actually one of those cases where the crab has now been around long enough to become a native species, so to speak.