This year’s crab season has started much earlier than usual and has provided low prices. This year stock in front of Dutch coasts has already risen in June, managing director of producer group of German crab fishermen, Philipp Oberdörffer, shared. Normally, a new generation of crabs will only take care of full nets from late summer.
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As a result, producer prices decreased from last about 8 euros for a kilo of crabs to around 3.50 euros. The lower prices are usually at a staggered rate for consumers. Crab buns are expected to be cheaper only in coming weeks.
The North Sea shrimp fluctuates very strongly in its stock. In past two years, according to Oberdörffer, catches were a total of 40 percent below long-term average. This was mainly due to whiting, a species of fish from Cod family, which had eaten many young shrimps. In part, this had led to very high prices for consumers: a crab bun at Hamburg Piers last year cost up to 11.50 euros.
As a cause of premature main fishing period, Oberdörffer suspected an elevated water temperature of North Sea. “There are also few whiting at moment,” he said. After Fangstart in Nerlands, season begins furr north, first before lower Saxon coast, n before Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark. There, however, fishermen would now already be suffering from lower prices determined by high catches before Nerlands. No one can predict how crab fishing will develop by end of year, said Oberdörffer.
