scholarly journals Climate change and the future productivity and distribution of crab in the Bering Sea

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cody Szuwalski ◽  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Robert Foy ◽  
Albert J Hermann ◽  
Anne Hollowed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Snow Crab ◽  
Red King Crab ◽  
Potential Productivity ◽  
Environmental Indices ◽  
King Crab ◽  
Tanner Crab

Abstract Crab populations in the eastern Bering Sea support some of the most valuable fisheries in the United States, but their future productivity and distribution are uncertain. We explore observed changes in the productivity and distribution for snow crab, Tanner crab, and Bristol Bay red king crab. We link historical indices of environmental variation and predator biomass with observed time series of centroids of abundance and extent of crab stock distribution; we also fit stock–recruit curves including environmental indices for each stock. We then project these relationships under forcing from global climate models to forecast potential productivity and distribution scenarios. Our results suggest that the productivity of snow crab is negatively related to the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and positively related to ice cover; Tanner crab’s productivity and distribution are negatively associated with cod biomass and sea surface temperature. Aspects of red king crab distribution and productivity appear to be related to bottom temperature, ice cover, the AO, and/or cod biomass. Projecting these relationships forward with available forecasts suggests that Tanner crab may become more productive and shift further offshore, red king crab distribution may contract and move north, and productivity may decrease for snow crab as the population contracts northward.

scholarly journals Managing harvest risk with catch-pooling cooperatives

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1038-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suresh Andrew Sethi ◽  
Michael Dalton ◽  
Ray Hilborn
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Statistical Properties ◽  
Snow Crab ◽  
Red King Crab ◽  
Marine Science ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
King Crab ◽  
Management Agency ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Central Management

Abstract Sethi, S. A., Dalton, M., and Hilborn, R. 2012. Managing harvest risk with catch-pooling cooperatives – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 1038–1044. Catch-pooling cooperatives are a strategy for fishers to manage variability which can be organized independently of a central management agency. We examined the statistical properties of equal-share catch-pooling cooperatives, and tested their potential to mitigate risk using data from two Bering Sea crab fisheries prior to rationalization. The results suggest that small cooperatives of crabbers could have reduced vessel-level catch risk by as much as 40% in the red king crab fishery, but would have been ineffective in the snow crab fishery. Analytical examination of catch variances under cooperatives explains the discrepancy between the two fisheries and demonstrates that variability reduction depends on the degree of correlation amongst participants' catches. In the best-case scenario, catch-pooling cooperatives can diversify away all season to season variation resulting from individuals' luck and skill, leaving only variation in fishery-wide harvest.

scholarly journals Low allozyme heterozygosity in North Pacific and Bering Sea populations of red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus): adaptive specialization, population bottleneck, or metapopulation structure?

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Stewart Grant ◽  
Susan E. Merkouris ◽  
Gordon H. Kruse ◽  
Lisa W. Seeb
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Population Bottleneck ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Red King Crab ◽  
Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽  
Allozyme Diversity ◽  
King Crab ◽  
Metapopulation Structure ◽  
Adaptive Specialization

AbstractGrant, W. S., Merkouris, S. E., Kruse, G. H., and Seeb, L. W. 2011. Low allozyme heterozygosity in North Pacific and Bering Sea populations of red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus): adaptive specialization, population bottleneck, or metapopulation structure? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: . Populations of red king crab in the North Pacific and Bering Sea have declined in response to ocean-climate shifts and to harvesting. An understanding of how populations are geographically structured is important to the management of these depressed resources. Here, the Mendelian variability at 38 enzyme-encoding loci was surveyed in 27 samples (n = 2427) from 18 general locations. Sample heterozygosities were low, averaging HE = 0.015 among samples. Weak genetic structure was detected among three groups of populations, the Bering Sea, central Gulf of Alaska, and Southeast Alaska, but without significant isolation by distance among populations. A sample from Adak Island in the western Aleutians was genetically different from the remaining samples. The lack of differentiation among populations within regions may, in part, be due to post-glacial expansions and a lack of migration-drift equilibrium and to limited statistical power imposed by low levels of polymorphism. Departures from neutrality may reflect the effects of both selective and historical factors. The low allozyme diversity in red king crab may, in part, be attributable to adaptive specialization, background selection, ice-age population bottlenecks, or metapopulation dynamics in a climatically unstable North Pacific.

scholarly journals Contrasting trends in sea ice and primary production in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1180-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary W. Brown ◽  
Kevin R. Arrigo
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Primary Production ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Light Limitation ◽  
The Bering Sea

Abstract Brown, Z. W., and Arrigo, K. R. 2012. Contrasting trends in sea ice and primary production in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: . Satellite remote sensing data were used to examine recent trends in sea-ice cover and net primary productivity (NPP) in the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. In nearly all regions, diminished sea-ice cover significantly enhanced annual NPP, indicating that light-limitation predominates across the seasonally ice-covered waters of the northern hemisphere. However, long-term trends have not been uniform spatially. The seasonal ice pack of the Bering Sea has remained consistent over time, partially because of winter winds that have continued to carry frigid Arctic air southwards over the past six decades. Hence, apart from the “Arctic-like” Chirikov Basin (where sea-ice loss has driven a 30% increase in NPP), no secular trends are evident in Bering Sea NPP, which averaged 288 ± 26 Tg C year−1 over the satellite ocean colour record (1998–2009). Conversely, sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean has plummeted, extending the open-water growing season by 45 d in just 12 years, and promoting a 20% increase in NPP (range 441–585 Tg C year−1). Future sea-ice loss will likely stimulate additional NPP over the productive Bering Sea shelves, potentially reducing nutrient flux to the downstream western Arctic Ocean.

scholarly journals The visual estimation of red king crab and snow crab viability during transportation

Trudy VNIRO ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 184-197
Author(s):  
D. S. Zagorskaya ◽  
◽  
I. A. Zagorskij ◽  
N. P. Kovatcheva ◽  
R. R. Borisov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Crab ◽  
Red King Crab ◽  
Visual Estimation ◽  
King Crab

Temperature-Dependent Growth of Juvenile Red King Crab (Paralithodes camtschatica) and its Effects on Size-at-Age and Subsequent Recruitment in the Eastern Bering Sea

1990 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 1307-1317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley G. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Red King Crab ◽  
Sea Temperature ◽  
King Crab ◽  
Recruitment Failure ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea ◽  
Paralithodes Camtschatica ◽  
Size Interval ◽  
Size At Age

A temperature-based growth relationship was derived for juvenile red king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica) from published data. Growth of annual cohorts of crab was simulated at various locations in Bristol Bay, AK, using long-term water temperature observations, and the resulting mean sizes were compared with those observed by the annual National Marine Fisheries Service eastern Bering Sea crab survey. Results indicate that mean age-at-recruitment is 3–5 yr greater than previously estimated, and has decreased from 9.5 to 7.5 yr over the past decade as a result of increasing sea temperature. Single year-classes require 3–5 yr for complete recruitment to the 'mature' size interval, and recruitment in any year may consist of crabs from four to five year-classes. The high landings and subsequent crash of the Bering Sea red king crab population during the late 1970's probably originated from one or more adjacent strong year-classes in the late 1960's which recruited over a period of several years, followed by a period of recruitment failure and high mortality. Future stock–recruitment studies should account for the effects of multi-year recruitment and year-class overlap.

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