Billions gone: what’s behind the disappearance of Alaska snow crabs?

The climate crisis is thought to be a primary cause of a mass die-off of Alaska's snow crabs. Photograph: Noaa Fisheries/AFP/Getty Images

Just off Alaska’s coast, the east Bering Sea usually teems with snow crabs, their spindly legs scuttling across an almost frozen ocean realm. Those legs, prized by seafood lovers, underpin a crabbing industry in the state worth $160m (£143m) annually.

But this year, federal fisheries managers have closed the Alaska snow crab season for the first time, because of record population declines of more than 80% since 2018.