Scientists want to determine what a ‘healthy population’ of crabs is to help preserve B.C.’s fishing industry

Crab prices are soaring around the globe, which puts pressure on the natural resource.

B.C.’s crab fisheries must balance profit with maintaining healthy crab populations. But there isn’t much data on how many crabs there should be.

Researchers at the Royal BC Museum are looking into the past to figure out what “healthy populations” have been in the past.

The challenge, crabs don’t fossilize well. So researchers had to find another way to estimate crab populations throughout history. The answer: count fossilized claw marks instead.

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