New figures seen yesterday showed that crab caught in local waters fell by more than half in 2024, a much sharper decline than in previous years, and was barely a quarter of the amount being caught 10 years ago.
Bernie Le Gallais, whose company A1 Crab Supplies sells shellfish to local restaurants, said he expected figures for this year to be even worse.
‘To be honest, I don’t think the industry will recover.
‘We have a proud history of crab fishing on this island, but I can’t see it surviving,’ he said.
Data from the States showed that the number of edible crabs caught had plummeted from about 500 tonnes in 2023 to just 241 tonnes last year.
At the same time, there was a 10-fold increase in the weight of catches of octopus, which feed on crustaceans and have been blamed as a major cause of the decimation of crab stocks.
Ten years ago, the amount of crab caught was closer to 900 tonnes.
‘Nothing can be done, it’s just nature. In the past, octopus have been killed off by cold winters, but we just don’t get them any more,’ said Mr Le Gallais.
‘Eventually, the octopus will leave or die through lack of food, but by then we won’t have an industry in a state to recover. People aren’t coming in to start because it’s just too expensive.
‘It’s not just the octopus – the whole industry is falling apart beneath our feet.’
The Crab Cabin, based in St Sampson’s, announced its decision to shut last week with an advert in the Guernsey Press.
Mr Le Gallais had no plans to close but admitted the future was somewhat out of his hands.
‘I’m not planning to close, but if fishermen decide they can’t get the crab, there is not much I can do,’ he said.
In total the amount of shellfish, molluscs and crustaceans caught fell by almost a quarter to just over 600 tonnes, although the number of lobsters remained stable.
Another local fishmonger said it was not just octopus that had been hitting crab stocks.
Jason Hamon, owner of Surf & Turf on Castle Pier, said crab numbers had been declining for years, with warmer waters also a factor.
‘I’m really sorry to see the Crab Cabin go – you hope people buy local and local businesses survive,’ he said.
‘With the crab situation, I understand just where they are coming from.
‘If there are not the raw materials, you can’t carry on. That shortage of crab obviously pushes the price up and makes everything more difficult.’
The data for 2024 showed that throughout the year the island’s average sea temperature had been 1 to 2C above the long-term average.
‘We have only had the octopus situation for the last two years and that has made an impact, but the warmer sea temperature is also a big factor and has driven the crab further north, as they like the colder seas,’ said Mr Hamon.
Although crab saw the most dramatic fall, there was bad news across the board for the fishing industry, with total landings down by almost a third to just over 672 tonnes.
Deputy George Oswald expressed concerns about the state of local fishing in the States Assembly last week, asking the Environment & Infrastructure Committee if it had considered commissioning an in-depth scientific survey into the significant decline in fishery returns.
‘I refer not just to well-documented impact of the octopus bloom on crustacean catches, but also in the significant fall in wet fish catches,’ said Deputy Oswald.
‘I paraphrase a local writer on matters piscatorial, saying that people’s livelihoods, recreational anglers’ sport and our precious marine ecology is at risk of being irreparably destroyed.’
In response, E&I president Deputy Adrian Gabriel said sea fisheries was an important if small part of his committee’s mandate.
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