Posted on 10/20/2007 6:48:19 PM PDT by UnklGene
Stalin's Last Army: Hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe -
The Telegraph - UK ^ | February 28, 2004 | Julius Strauss
Posted on 02/25/2007 5:02:02 PM PST by UnklGene
Stalin's last army: hordes of gigantic crabs on their way to invade Europe -
By Julius Strauss in Kirkenes, Northern Norway
Millions of giant Pacific crabs, whose ancestors were brought to Europe by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s, are marching south along Norway's coast, devouring everything in their path.
The monster crabs, which can weigh up to 25lb and have a claw-span of more than three feet, are proving so resilient that scientists fear they could end up as far south as Gibraltar.
Energised by a mysterious population explosion a decade ago, whole armies of the crustaceans - known as the Kamchatka or Red King Crabs - have already advanced about 400 miles along the roof of Europe, overwhelming the ports of northern Norway.
They now number more than 10 million and have reached the Lofoten Islands off north-west Scandinavia, leaving in their wake what one expert described as "an underwater desert".
In a graphic display of the extent of the crab's submarine domination, some photographs of the ocean floor in Kirkenes in northern Norway show a writhing mass of the ugly, spiny animals.
Northern clams and other shellfish, once so numerous that divers could scoop up handfuls, have been all but eliminated.
Lars Petter Oie, a Norwegian diver who lives nearby, has seen the fjord outside his front door taken over by the crabs.
Plunging through a hole in the ice, another diver surfaced within two minutes with a huge specimen. A snap of its claw is enough to remove a man's finger.
Mr Oie said: "I have been to conferences on the crab and one thing the experts agree on is that they have rarely come across a species that is so adaptable.
"It can survive on almost anything: kelp, dead fish, seaweed and fish eggs. It even eats crushed shells to get the calcium it needs for its shell."
The relentless advance of the crabs has led to calls from some Norwegian marine experts for a government-subsidised "blitz" to try to halt their relentless march south.
Andreas Tveteraas, an analyst in Oslo with the international World Wildlife Fund, said that urgent steps needed to be taken.
"This animal has no natural predators and it's an alien species in the Barents Sea. That's why its numbers are exploding.
"Some scientists say it will stay in the north because it likes the temperature but others think it can go as far south as Gibraltar."
For years the Norwegian government has ignored the underwater advance, undecided whether to treat the crabs as a resource or a pest.
The animal's legs are considered a delicacy and fetch top dollar in Japan and America. Even in Oslo, consumers pay around 200 Norwegian kronor (£15) a pound.
Served with bread, butter, lemon and mayonnaise, the taste and texture of the crab meat is comparable with that of the finest lobster.
One leg is enough to provide a grown man with a filling meal.
At present, some Norwegian fishermen have been granted seasonal licences to catch the Kamchatka crab but stiff regulations on the size of the boat used and other criteria mean they are few in number.
Aasmund Bjordal, of the Department of Marine Resources in the western Norwegian town of Bergen, said: "We're between two policies. One is to get rid of the crabs. The other is to manage it as a fishing resource.
"In the meantime, it's already become an important source of income for some fishermen in the north. The problem is that it may be destroying the fishing stock."
Predicting the crab's long-term effect on the marine ecology is difficult. The Barents Sea provides some of the world's richest fishing grounds and a collapse in stock would be a major disaster.
There is some evidence that the crabs, which often live at great depths, have been eating the eggs of the caplin, a small fish that is a main source of food for cod.
In its native Pacific it faces much sterner competition but has nevertheless edged out other bottom-feeders to reach northern Japan and Vancouver Island.
Transporting the monster crabs to the Barents Sea was originally part of a Stalinist era scheme to provide food for the populations in the north-western Soviet Union.
In the 1990s, for reasons nobody quite understands, the population exploded.
In recognition of the growing threat to the local ecology, Norwegian authorities finally lifted on Jan 1 some of the restrictions on crabbing along part of the shoreline.
As for the fishermen themselves, they are as deeply divided as the government.
BTW:
A man goes into the restaurant and asks the waiter, “Do you serve crabs?”
The waiter replies, “We serve anyone.”
Chto tyeper, smotri eta Russki krebski lyudii!!
Hitler fought them with tanks, and lost.
Now, just bring on the butter, lemon juice, and shell crackers! Nasha pobyeda!
Let us now enjoyably fight off the Russian crab invaders!
;^)
Crab enchilladas are much better than lutefisk. Trust me on this.
I think we're zeroing-in on a major part of the problem here.
As a second thought, this sounds like a job for Forrest Gump. Lessee, there's boiled crab, fried crab, sauteed crab, steamed crab, crab cakes, crab bisque, crab croquettes, crab gumbo, crab rangoon, crab louie, cracked crab, crab fritters...
I say notify “Red Lobster” and get the price of the lobster feast way down!
This reporter seems to be as confused as the Norwegian government.
What is there about leftist environmentalism that fries people’s brains?
On the one hand they worry that these crabs are unstoppable, and will wipe out every other species. On the other hand, they set strict limits on catching them. On the third hand, they are considering an extermination campaign.
The headline should read, “environmentalist bureaucrats are crazy.”
“One leg is enough to provide a grown man with a filling meal.”
I challenge that. I’ll bet I could eat half dozen.
H G Wells The Time Machine chapter 11:
‘Far away up the desolate slope I heard a harsh scream, and saw a thing like a huge white butterfly go slanting and flittering up into the sky and, circling, disappear over some low hillocks beyond. The sound of its voice was so dismal that I shivered and seated myself more firmly upon the machine. Looking round me again, I saw that, quite near, what I had taken to be a reddish mass of rock was moving slowly towards me. Then I saw the thing was really a monstrous crab-like creature. Can you imagine a crab as large as yonder table, with its many legs moving slowly and uncertainly, its big claws swaying, its long antennæ, like carters’ whips, waving and feeling, and its stalked eyes gleaming at you on either side of its metallic front? Its back was corrugated and ornamented with ungainly bosses, and a greenish incrustation blotched it here and there. I could see the many palps of its complicated mouth flickering and feeling as it moved.
‘As I stared at this sinister apparition crawling towards me, I felt a tickling on my cheek as though a fly had lighted there. I tried to brush it away with my hand, but in a moment it returned, and almost immediately came another by my ear. I struck at this, and caught something threadlike. It was drawn swiftly out of my hand. With a frightful qualm, I turned, and I saw that I had grasped the antenna of another monster crab that stood just behind me. Its evil eyes were wriggling on their stalks, its mouth was all alive with appetite, and its vast ungainly claws, smeared with an algal slime, were descending upon me. In a moment my hand was on the lever, and I had placed a month between myself and these monsters. But I was still on the same beach, and I saw them distinctly now as soon as I stopped. Dozens of them seemed to be crawling here and there, in the sombre light, among the foliated sheets of intense green.
This is one instance where I'll be happy to trust, but not verify... /grin
BTW, re: 'Stalin's Last Army', the author is wrong - they're in the US Congress, the MSM and academia...
Man is it’s natural predator, and we just need to eat more.
OH REALLY?
The only reason to eat lobster is the butter.
Global Warming did it.
Given how delicious they probably are, where’s the problem here?
LOL...I was thinking the same thing. Send up 10 Cajun shrimp boats and their crews, and tell them crabbing is illegal. Problem solved!
Yeah, aren’t the enviro-geeks usually worried about over-fishing, over-harvesting driving some species or other to extinction? This would seem to be a perfect opportunity to try it intentionally. (And get some good seafood in the bargain)
>>>some photographs of the ocean floor in Kirkenes in northern Norway show a writhing mass of the ugly, spiny animals. <<<
Okay, there is some serious disconnect here.
The disconnect is the government won't allow any serious harvesting of the scruptious pests. Hence the impact on the crab population is negligeable and the price stays sky-high.
The author has obviously never met me.
In the 1990s, for reasons nobody quite understands, the population exploded.
Duh! Global Warming
I have to differ with you on that. Bastard though Stalin was, his soldiers were brave and tough. Our Congress, MSM and Academia are neither. Fact is, they don't even approach the level of the crabs in this article.
So? King crab is a hundred times better than clams.
-ccm
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