These females take an average of 29 days to release these larvae. The female blue king crab will breed every 2 years, molt, mate, and then release approximately 150,000 eggs. The female golden king crab holds about 10,000 to 30,000 every 20 months. King crabs are often fished or captured for food. King crab fishing teams are made up of specific members who play an important role at the time of the catch. These crabs are caught during the winter months from October to January. “Herring and cod are used as bait to get the grapples into these 700- to 800-pound square steel pots.” (King Crab 101, 1) These traps are covered with nylon straps and are left underwater for about a day or two and then hauled back to the boat. You would think that the female population rate would not increase as fast as the male population because they are not allowed to be kept and sold to producers, but it is decreasing just as quickly. Red and blue king crab populations were falling to historic levels. In the early years, fishing was getting out of control. The red king crab has become one of the most sought after species by fisheries. Their population has been very low statewide since 1983. The fishery collapsed and the four main production areas were closed to red king crab fishing. After that, the fishermen had attacked or targeted the golden king crab. After a period of 15 years, 112 million pounds of golden king crabs were harvested..