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Timeline / Citizenship, Services, and Sovereignty / 1950s: Alaska’s commercial crab Industry grows

1950s: Alaska’s commercial crab Industry grows

King crab becomes popular on menus in restaurants across Alaska and the western U.S. The red crab, found in Bristol Bay, Norton Sound, and near Kodiak, is the most commercially important crab. Like other crabs, it lives in waters near Alaska Native villages, which depend on crab as a traditional food. Alaska Native fishermen enjoy the benefits of commercial crabbing until the crab population is depleted.

Theme
Land and Water
Region
Arctic

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Worker holding two Alaskan king crabs, about to drop them into the cooking vat at the Alaska-Fresh Crab Plant in Homer, Alaska, 1952

Courtesy Ann and Robert Mounteer papers, Alaska Historical Society, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage

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Cleaning Alaskan king crab at a table in the Alaska-Fresh Crab Plant at Homer, Alaska, 1952

Courtesy Ann and Robert Mounteer papers, Alaska Historical Society, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage