In the Barents Sea, it is an invasive species and its population is increasing tremendously. This is causing great concern to local environmentalists and local fishermen, as the crab eats everything it comes across and is spreading very rapidly, eating most seabed life and "creating a desert". Since its introduction in the 1960s, it has spread west along the Norwegian coast and also has reached Svalbard. The species keeps on advancing southwards along the coast of Norway and some scientists think they are advancing around a year. In Norway they are sometimes called "Stalin's crabs".