The snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) lives in the coldest parts of

the Pacific, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, where the water

temperature is always below 4°C. The crab has a small body

with long, thin legs and an orange, light-brown or red-colored

shell. The stocks in Western Greenland and Canada are consi-

dered to be healthy and are harvested at a sustainable level.

Snow crabs are fished using pots, which is the traditional

catching method. Pot-fishery has very little impact on the sea-

bed and no risk of by-catch. The pot is a metal frame covered

with netting, which allows the snow crabs to enter, but not to

leave, trapping the live crabs inside the pots.

When the pots are hauled on board and opened, the crabs are

carefully evaluated; all males with a shell diameter below 10

centimeters and all female crabs are set back into the water to

reproduce and secure future generations of snow crab.

Royal Greenland operates production facilities along the west

coast of Greenland and in Newfoundland, where the snow

crabs are landed alive and quickly slaughtered by hand, cooked

and quick frozen before they are taken to the freezer storage

ready for dispatch to consumers across the world.