[4][5] Their limited distribution is hypothesized to have been caused by a retreat into deeper, colder waters during a period of post-glacial warming.

[citation needed] Pribilof Island blue king crabs mate and produce eggs in late March to early May.

[10] Female blue king crabs in the Pribilof Islands grow to the largest size before they are reproductively mature.

[10] St. Matthew Island females can become sexually mature at 3 in (76 mm) CL,[11] and Diomede crabs are similar.

Environmental variables, such as tides, temperature, salinity, light, phytoplankton blooms, and predation, are seasonally pulsed and likely serve as cues for larval release.

Commercial blue king crab fisheries around the eastern Bering Sea began in the mid-1960s.

[17][18] The Pribilof Island harvest by the United States peaked in 1980 at 10,935,000 lb (4,960 t) and was closed in 1988 due to population decline,[19] then again in 1999 after being opened for three years.