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Thread: Stalin’s red army invading the Barents Sea

  1. #1

    Stalin’s red army invading the Barents Sea

    Interesting true story about Soviet scientists transplanting King Crabs.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environm...vasive-species


    The Norwegian fishing village of Bugøynes, 310 miles north of the Arctic Circle and a frigid, dark place for much of the year, was on the edge of ruin.

    Work was scarce. Years of overfishing and mismanagement had stymied cod quotas. Boats lay idle in cold waters. Those who chose to stay were forced to rely on what meagre wages they could still muster from fishing and processing.

    That is, until the crabs arrived. Starting in the 1980s, woeful fishermen began hoisting up mysterious, spindly giants in their nets in Varangerfjord. The aliens, brandishing two menacing pincers, weighed far more than the brown crabs they had seen farther south.

    Unknown to the fishermen, the crustaceans had traveled from Russia, where scientists had introduced red king crabs on the Murman coast during the 1960s with the goal of establishing a new, lucrative fishery. Slowly, the crabs scuttled the 60 or so miles over the border into Norway. The deep fjords in the Barents Sea near Bugøynes provided the perfect cover.

    The invasion of “Stalin’s red army” was initially seen as a disaster. The crabs became entangled in gillnets and longlines, removing bait and causing damage that allowed coveted fish species to escape. But when the fishermen learned of the million-dollar Alaskan king crab fishery, they realised the crab could be more boom than bust. Today the red king crab is largely credited with rescuing the fishing villages of the north during a time when cod was sparse.
    #RESIST

  2. #2
    Member
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    So, if I'm seeing this right, at first the Norwegians were mad at the Russians, but they soon learned to let Bugoyens be Bugoyens?


    Cat

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Catshooter View Post
    So, if I'm seeing this right, at first the Norwegians were mad at the Russians, but they soon learned to let Bugoyens be Bugoyens?


    Cat
    Doing @blues work for him, damn.
    #RESIST

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by LittleLebowski View Post
    Doing @blues work for him, damn.
    He’s very likely to get crabby over this
    #RESIST

  5. #5
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    That's high praise man. I hurried when I was typing as I was afraid he was too . . .

  6. #6
    I Demand Pie Lex Luthier's Avatar
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    So the article didn't state- did the Russki crabs succeed via a straight charge?

    Or was it a pincer movement?
    "If I ever needed to hunt in a tuxedo, then this would be the rifle I'd take." - okie john

    "Not being able to govern events, I govern myself." - Michel De Montaigne

  7. #7
    Site Supporter LOKNLOD's Avatar
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    something something...pincer movement...

    ETA: Ah, Lex beat me. LOL
    --Josh
    “Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.” - Tacitus.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by LittleLebowski View Post
    He’s very likely to get crabby over this
    Do you think it'll make him come out of his shell?

  9. #9
    Member Sal Picante's Avatar
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    ... and that was the only time in history that someone was happy to get crabs...

  10. #10
    Four String Fumbler Joe in PNG's Avatar
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    I could really go for a low country boil about now.
    "You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
    "I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI

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