Alaska snow crab season canceled as officials investigate disappearance of an estimated 1 billion crabs

In a major blow to America's seafood industry, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has canceled the winter snow crab season in the Bering Sea due to their falling numbers. While restaurant menus will suffer, the greatest impact will be to the economy, to the tune of an estimated $200 million.

An estimated one billion crabs have mysteriously disappeared in two years, state officials said. It marks a 90% plunge in their population.

"Did they run up north to get that colder water?" asked Gabriel Prout, whose Kodiak Island fishing business relies heavily on the snow crab population. "Did they completely cross the border? Did they walk off the continental shelf on the edge there, over the Bering Sea?"