**6.3 Pots worldwide**

Crabs and lobsters are caught all over the world. Asia is the most significant area, with China and Indonesia as the leading nations. For lobster, Canada is the primary nation.

In Norway, King crab and Snow crab (Queen crab) represent a significant source of income for the Norwegian seafood industry and are commercially more valuable than other crab types. Worldwide, Canada is the leading nation in fishing for Snow crab, but the USA, Japan, Russia, and Greenland are also active nations. However, there are significant differences in the use of snow crab pots compared with other pots, as previously explained; hence, we consider them separately. **Table 5** shows the crab catch in 2019 divided by type and area. Worldwide, snow crabs account for only 13% of the total crab and lobster catch.

The total catch of Snow- or Queen crabs worldwide is 116 748 t. Out of this, Norway accounts for 3.5%. The total catch for crabs is 1 461 581, and the majority is from Asia. Norway accounts only for 0.5% of the total crab catch. Finally, the total lobster catch is 320 057 t, where Norway accounts for 0.1% of the catch.

To estimate the total global generated microplastics from crab fishery, we use data from **Table 5** and divide by the Norwegian share. The results are shown in **Table 6**.

In Norway, fishing for Snow crabs is the main contributor to microplastics, even with a small number of vessels involved. However, other crabs account for the more significant part of the wear and tear worldwide. The global amount of microplastics originating from the crab fishery is 802.2 t.

*Microplastics Derived from Commercial Fishing Activities DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108475*


#### **Table 5.**

*Crab catch in 2019 divided by type and area — derived from [26].*


#### **Table 6.**

*Annual worldwide microplastics generated from crab fishery.*
