Red King Crab
The hidden treasure of the Arctic

The red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) is famously difficult to catch. Adult males, which are the only ones suitable to eat, seek out deep, cold waters; 200 meters or more below the surface. After reaching maturity at the age of two, they only venture into shallower waters to mate. They are thought to have a lifespan of up to 30 years, and a fully grown red king crab can have a body width of 28 cm and a leg span of 1,8 meters. The name refers to its colour when cooked. In life, the red king crab tends to be burgundy.

Adult red king crabs come together in tight, highly concentrated groups. They are able to move across great distances, which makes them difficult to locate. A profound understanding of their movement patterns is required to catch them, and veteran crab fishermen have shared their experience with our crew. When vessels reach a location thought to house a dense population of crab, the crew drops crab pots and leave them at the bottom of the sea for the crabs to climb inside. When the crew returns to location, the really heavy work begins. Several tons of live crab has to be sorted and processed as quickly as humanly possible, sometimes in extreme weather conditions.

Some of our vessels have factory facilities, and will do the processing and packaging on board. In other cases, the catch is brought to our seafront facility in Vardø. Our most exclusive product, the live red king crab, needs constant water flow through their gills to respire, and are kept in great seawater tanks before being moved to special crates for international transportation. We remain in full control of the catch; monitoring the conditions of its journey from the Arctic Ocean all the way to our clients to guarantee perfect condition delivery.