Russia considering a return to crab quotas, despite concerns from industry

The Russian government is considering a controversial return to auctioning off its crab quotas.

Crab quotas have a complicated history in Russia. In the early 2000s, they were distributed through auctions, but the unpredictability of market prices resulted in heavy losses for many crab-fishing companies, and some went bankrupt. In response, in 2008, a historical catch system was introduced, with quotas allocated in 10-year intervals. 

The first 10-year period of historical …