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Restaurants in the United States are now being forced to pull crab dishes from their menus as they deal with a crab shortage in seafood [markets right now](https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/foodservice-retail/us-restaurants-casinos-forced-to-pull-crab-other-species-over-high-prices). 

## There is not enough king and snow crab to meet demand. 
The shortage is already causing major issues in the industry and restaurants around the country are struggling to try and meet demand that they are seeing for the product, which can be especially popular during the summer season. 

## Not sure when things will get better
Those within the [industry say that they](https://www.wmdt.com/2021/07/crab-shortage-still-causing-major-issues-in-the-restaurant-industry/) are being crushed everywhere and there is no clear sign of when things might even out and the supply return back to normal. Some restaurants have started ordering more crabs than they usually need because they are worried about the shortage, those who can still find some right now anyways. 

Ordering extra also helps for those who are worried because they don't know when the next shipment might come etc. As the issue continues this can also mean seeing higher prices for crab now too and ordering more now can mean avoiding some of those higher prices later on. 

For a number of restaurants it is becoming too difficult and too costly to source this seafood dish so they've simply had to pull it from the menu. It isn't only crab either, the seafood market is seeing a storm brewing currently, with strong demand for certain products mixed together with a weak supply it is causing a rise in prices and more difficulty for sourcing. 

## Already, prices have doubled for many species of [fish and shellfish](https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/food/perfect-storm-rocking-seafood-supply-chain). 
Contributions to the problem have been the high demand for the product mixed with worker shortages for restaurants, port congestion, a general lack of product for crab and other seafood items, increase in costs, and [shipment issues](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/seafood-prices-soar-amid-supply-chain-issues-and-worker-shortage-180978369/). 

For those who haven't seen a rise in prices yet [for wherever they can find these seafood items](https://www.npr.org/2021/07/12/1015185101/crab-prices-skyrocket-as-demand-increases-for-the-tasty-crustaceans) they might see it coming soon.