The Truth Behind Japan’s Plastic Hermit Crab Crisis

Truth! 💯

🐚 Have you seen those viral videos of hermit crabs using plastic bottle caps as shells? That video actually came from one specific location in Japan, where local crabs are struggling to find real shells — and we’ll share why…

You may have seen stories blaming “climate change” or tourists taking shells home, but the real cause runs deeper. The problem around that little island in Japan is the commercial overfishing of mollusks — the shell-makers themselves. When too many shell-producing snails and conchs are harvested by commercial fishermen for food & trade, fewer new shells enter the ecosystem - leaving the crabs with fewer natural homes.

Here in Florida and across the U.S., we don’t face that same issue — our mollusk populations are protected and not overfished or over-collected which keeps our beaches rich with shells and our hermit crabs happy. We have a robust, thriving population! And that’s reason to shellebrate! 🥳 🌴 🐚 🦀 🧡