Special report: Ocean warming has put at risk the historic Alaska crab fishery. After a dismal summer survey, state biologists slashed this year’s harvest of snow crab by nearly 90% from 2021 levels.
By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times | Photos by Loren Holmes, Anchorage Daily News
October 3, 2022
This story was reported in partnership with the Seattle Times and the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines reporting initiative.
ABOARD THE PINNACLE, Bering Sea — Through the wheelhouse window, captain Mark Casto spotted a white line on the horizon. The edge of an ice floe was illuminated by bow lights piercing the morning darkness of the Bering Sea.
He throttled back the engines. Soon, the Seattle-based crab boat began to nose through closely packed pancake-like pieces and bigger craggy chunks, some the size of boulders, which bobbed about in the currents and clanged against the hull.
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