Unalaska, AK – Wal-Mart says it wants to stock certified sustainably harvested king crab by the middle of next year.

The retailing giant's vice president for seafood told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in an article published Tuesday that the company hoped to have crab legs bearing the Marine Stewardship Council's seal of approval on its shelves by summer, and company representatives confirmed that goal via e-mail today.

Unfortunately, that's probably not possible. MSC hasn't certified any king crab producers yet, and Jim Humphreys, MSC's regional director for the Americas, says no one from the fishery has entered the organization's full assessment process, which usually takes more than a year to complete. So it's unlikely that certified king crab will be on the market in 2007.

But Wal-Mart's move is the latest in a series of events putting pressure on Alaskan crabbers to get their fishery certified. Last month, producers from Russia's Barents Sea fishery sought a preliminary assessment for their fishery, which was introduced artificially from Bering Sea stocks in the 1960s. But Humphreys says MSC's board decided several weeks ago that such stocks weren't eligible for certification.

Wal-Mart announced in August that the company would phase out uncertified seafood products over the next five years, a move that is generally good news for Alaska. The state's pollock, sablefish and halibut fisheries are already certified, and the salmon fishery is currently under review for renewal.

Wal-Mart representatives won't disclose exactly how much king crab or seafood the company sells, but the company posted overall sales of $26.8 billion in November.