Svein Ruud, CEO, Norway KingCrab, said to World Fishing & Aquaculture: “In the king crabs business we are facing challenges with Russian illegal crab. So the main reason is to set ourselves apart from that. Further, it is an important element in building the brand of Norway King Crab as the world’s leading supplier of live king crabs.”

Key to gaining the FoS certification is KingCrab’s fleet of small coastal fishing vessels of under 11m and these carry a maximum of 30 pots per vessel. The pots have a minimum effect on the seabed and generate no by-catch or discard because they have a means of escape for other species and juveniles are released alive back into the sea.

The fishery ensures that red king crab is not over exploited in the area and keeps within the threshold set by the FAO. Local authorities exercise very tight controls ensuring that each vessel sticks to the allocated fishing quota.

KingCrab's fishery and processing plants have an efficient energy and waste management system in place which involves most waste being recycled and no use of ozone depleting refrigerants.

The crabs are caught all year round and are taken into the factory throughout the commercial season from September until March.

All the crabs coming into the factory go through a thorough check. After being approved, they are weighed, measured and registered, and allocated with individual ID chips. Each crab is individually tracked until it is delivered to the customer.