At a Glance

Scientists in Alaska have been studying the effects of ocean acidification on crabs.The researchers believe the species could face extinction unless it adapts to the harsher conditions or something is done to slow climate change.

A species of Alaskan crab made famous by the popular television show"The Deadliest Catch"is underthreat from the ocean's rising levels of acidity, scientists say.

The red king crab is native to the waters off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea. Researchers say that unless something is done to stave off the amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the earth's oceans, the species could die off within the next 100 years, the Associated Press reports.

The oceans play a vital role in helping to cool off the ever-warming planet. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, released into the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans. While that interplay helps keep our planet cool, it is also leading to lower pH levels, which destroys corals and threatens marine life.

A scientist with the fisheries department of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration holds up a red king crab.

(NOAA)

Robert Foy, director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Kodiak Laboratory, and his colleagues have been on the effects of acidification caused by climate change on the large, spiny crabs.

By creating water conditions that align with predictions for Alaska's waters in the coming decades, Foy has found that crabs don't live past early life stages. The acidic water makes it more difficult for the crabs' shells to harden because the lower pH prevents theaccumulation of calcium. Foy noted, however, that some of the crabs survived the more acidic water, which indicates to him that perhaps the crabs can acclimate and adapt to amore acidic environment.

“If the results in the laboratory are accurate, and there’s no acclimation, you would see stock failure about 100 years from now,” Foy said, adding that thatthe big question is whether there is enough time for the species to adapt.“Even if they could acclimate in a short period of time, or even adapt over a longer period of time, what kind of abilities will they have to do that physiologically if it happens over the scale of 50 years? That’s only a handful of generations for a crab species.”

Three types of kingcrab are harvested commercially in Alaska: the red, blue and golden king crab. But it's the for its meat. According to the AlaskaDepartment of Fish and Game, have been harvested since 1959 when the region became a state.