Scientific name
Chionoecetes opilio (snow crab), Cancer pagurus (brown crab)
Also known as
Opilio, queen crab; edible crab, tourteau, buey de mar
Main origins
USA (Alaska), United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Ireland
Main season
Snow crab from October; brown crab July to November
Overview
About Crab
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) is a long legged cold water crab caught by pot in the Bering Sea, then cooked and brine frozen as clusters with sweet, delicate white meat. Brown crab (Cancer pagurus) is a heavy bodied European crab with large claws, valued for its white claw meat and rich brown body meat.
Alaska snow crab is managed by the State of Alaska and NOAA Fisheries under annual catch limits and is sold mainly as clusters and meat. The United Kingdom is the largest supplier of live and frozen brown crab to Spain and also exports to France, Portugal and Asia, where it is sold whole, as claws and as picked meat.
Key points
- Brine frozen snow crab clusters
- Live and cooked brown crab
- Alaska RFM certified snow crab
- Graded by weight per piece
Origins
Where it comes from
USA (Alaska)
Bering Sea pot fishery, reopened in 2024/25 after a two year closure; the 2025/26 TAC is 9.3 million lb.
United Kingdom
Pot fishery around England, Scotland and Wales supplying live, whole cooked and processed brown crab.
Canada
A major snow crab producer, from Newfoundland and Labrador and the Gulf of St Lawrence.
Available origins vary through the year. Contact us for current availability.
Specifications
Available formats
| Product forms | Snow crab: cooked clusters (sections), meat. Brown crab: live, whole cooked, claws, white and brown meat |
| Sizes | Snow crab clusters 4/up, 5/8, 8/up, 10/up, 12/up oz; brown crab whole cooked 400/600, 600/800, 800/up g; claws 2/5, 4/8, 8/12, 12/20, 20/30 pieces per kg |
| Freezing | Snow crab cooked and brine frozen; brown crab whole cooked and claws individually frozen |
| Packing | Snow crab clusters in master cartons; whole cooked brown crab in 10 kg cartons |
| Season | Bering Sea snow crab opens 15 October; UK brown crab landed year round, main season July to November |
| Certifications | Alaska RFM (Eastern Bering Sea snow crab); MSC options for selected fisheries |
Bering Sea snow crab volumes remain limited after the closures of the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons. Specifications are typical for the trade and vary by origin and supplier. We source to your exact requirements.
Interested in Crab?
Send us your specification, volumes and destination and we will come back to you with suitable offers.