The Norwegian management of an introduced species: the Arctic red king crab fishery

Introduced into the Barents Sea in the 1960s, the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) has been fished commercially in Norway since 2002. Because it is an introduced species, its management raises a number of concerns. Minimising the threats posed by non-native species that cannot be eradicated is a challenge facing nature management authorities worldwide. High concentrations of crab on fishing grounds in eastern Finnmark in North Norway have interfered with traditional gillnet and longline fisheries, prompting fishermen to demand compensation for lost income. Difficult trade-offs were posed by the dual management objectives, which included (i) preventing the geographical expansion of the crab and (ii) exploiting the resource to provide income to coastal communities. The Norwegian government, with the consent of Parliament, has developed a management regime that addresses both objectives: an open-access fishery west of 26°E to prevent further west- and southward expansion of the crab population, and a regular commercial fishery east of that longitude. This management regime commands wider consideration, owing to its handling of the dilemmas inherent in the management of introduced species.