King Crab Leg Platter

History, tradition and origin

People have eaten crab for as long as they have lived beside the sea, and every coast has its own way: steamed with spice, picked into cakes, or cracked at the table with a mallet. King crab from the cold northern Pacific became a luxury in the twentieth century once boats could freeze the catch at sea.

Food economy and industry

King crab is caught in heavy steel pots in the Bering Sea and nearby waters during short, tightly controlled seasons, which is part of why it costs so much. Catch quotas rise and fall with stock surveys. Elsewhere, smaller crabs support day-boat fisheries and picking houses where the meat is removed by hand.