Managing fishing power: the case of Alaska red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus)

Because of concern about the inability to manage the Bristol Bay red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) fishery in Alaska and, in particular, to use in-season fishery performance to close the fishery at or near the preseason guideline harvest level, increasingly stringent pot limits were adopted to elongate the collapsing seasons. This paper provides a rigorous examination of the effect that pot limits had on season elongation and whether a redistribution of wealth occurred between large and small fishing vessels as a result of the policy. A simulation model of the fishery shows that pot limits did not elongate the season sufficiently to improve in-season management. Moreover, the policy allowed vessels to capture efficiency gains arising from an industry-wide reduction in fishing capacity. Both vessel size classes benefited from mutual gear reduction in all years except 1992. Redistribution of wealth was found to occur only in one year of the five years examined.

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Analysis of harvest strategies for red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, in Bristol Bay, Alaska

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f97-003 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 54 (5) ◽

pp. 1121-1134 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

J Zheng ◽

M C Murphy ◽

G H Kruse

Keyword(s):

Evaluation Criteria ◽

Mature Male ◽

Red King Crab ◽

Natural Mortality ◽

Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽

Bristol Bay ◽

King Crab ◽

Harvest Rate ◽

Key Factor ◽

Harvest Strategy

A modifiable harvest rate constrained by a minimum spawning abundance (threshold) is currently used to set the annual harvest level for Bristol Bay red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus. A length-based simulation model was constructed to evaluate effects of recruitment, natural mortality, and handling mortality on this harvest strategy. Evaluation criteria included mean yield, stability of yield, harvest opportunity, and stability of spawning stock. Optimal mature male harvest rates were strongly negatively related to handling mortality. For any given harvest rate, handling mortality is a key factor influencing optimal thresholds. The current harvest strategy produces a high mean yield and low variability in yield under low handling mortality scenarios, but the population is at high risk of collapse with a high handling mortality. Given uncertainties of recruitment, natural mortality, and handling mortality estimates, we recommend reducing mature male harvest rate from 20 to 15% and maximum legal male harvest rate cap from 60 to 50%. If handling mortality rate is greater than 30%, then we recommend increasing the threshold from 6600 to 11<|>000 metric tons of effective spawning biomass. Our recommended harvest strategy produces a mean yield similar to the current harvest strategy and safeguards against recruitment overfishing.

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Evaluating the impact of buffers to account for scientific uncertainty when setting TACs: application to red king crab in Bristol Bay, Alaska

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fss047 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 69 (4) ◽

pp. 624-634 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

André E. Punt ◽

M. S. M. Siddeek ◽

Brian Garber-Yonts ◽

Michael Dalton ◽

Louis Rugolo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Maximum Sustainable Yield ◽

Scientific Uncertainty ◽

Red King Crab ◽

Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽

Bristol Bay ◽

King Crab ◽

Stock Assessments ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

The Impact

Abstract Punt, A. E., Siddeek, M. S. M., Garber-Yonts, B., Dalton, M., Rugolo, L., Stram, D., Turnock, B. J., and Zheng, J. 2012. Evaluating the impact of buffers to account for scientific uncertainty when setting TACs: application to red king crab in Bristol Bay, Alaska. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 624–634. Increasingly, scientific uncertainty is being accounted for in fisheries management by implementing an uncertainty buffer, i.e. a difference between the limit catch level given perfect information and the set catch. An approach based on simulation is outlined, which can be used to evaluate the impact of different buffers on short- and long-term catches, discounted revenue, the probability of overfishing (i.e. the catch exceeding the true, but unknown, limit catch), and the stock becoming overfished (i.e. for crab, mature male biomass, MMB, dropping below one-half of the MMB corresponding to maximum sustainable yield). This approach can be applied when only a fraction of the uncertainty related to estimating the limit catch level is quantified through stock assessments. The approach is applied for illustrative purposes to the fishery for red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, in Bristol Bay, AK.

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A length-based population model and stock–recruitment relationships for red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, in Bristol Bay, Alaska

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f95-120 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 52 (6) ◽

pp. 1229-1246 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

J. Zheng ◽

M. C. Murphy ◽

G. H. Kruse

Keyword(s):

Population Model ◽

Nonlinear Least Squares ◽

Red King Crab ◽

Natural Mortality ◽

Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽

Bristol Bay ◽

King Crab ◽

Ricker Model ◽

Stock Recruitment ◽

Spawning Biomass

A length-based population model was constructed for Bristol Bay red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, incorporating stochastic growth, gradual recruitment over length, and a bowl-shaped pattern for instantaneous natural mortality as a function of length. A nonlinear least squares approach was used to estimate abundance, recruitment, and natural mortality. The model was applied to abundance and catch data from 1968 to 1993. The observed population abundances fit well with the model. Natural mortality was estimated to be three to six times higher in the early 1980s than during other periods. High natural mortality coupled with high harvest rates and followed by low spawning biomass may have contributed to the collapse of the population in the early 1980s and its continued lack of recovery. The stock–recruitment data estimated from the length-based model provided a good fit to both general and autocorrelated Ricker models. The general Ricker model is supported by strong recruitment associated with intermediate levels of spawning biomass and extremely low recruitment related to low spawning stock; the autocorrelated Ricker model fit the data slightly better and is supported by the fact that extremely strong and weak recruitment occurred successively over two separate periods.

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Trophic niche of the invasive red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus in a benthic food web

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps12023 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 565 ◽

pp. 113-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

MM Fuhrmann ◽

T Pedersen ◽

EM Nilssen

Keyword(s):

Food Web ◽

Trophic Niche ◽

Red King Crab ◽

Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽

King Crab ◽

Benthic Food Web ◽

Benthic Food

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Selecting species specific vitality metrics to predict red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) discard survival

Fisheries Research ◽

10.1016/j.fishres.2021.105964 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 240 ◽

pp. 105964

Author(s):

Cory Lescher ◽

Noëlle Yochum ◽

Brad Harris ◽

Nathan Wolf ◽

John Gauvin

Keyword(s):

Red King Crab ◽

Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽

King Crab ◽

Species Specific

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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 ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsq184 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 68 (3) ◽

pp. 499-506 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

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.

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Red King Crab Mating Success, Sex Ratio, Spatial Distribution, and Abundance Estimates as Artifacts of Survey Timing in Bristol Bay, Alaska

North American Journal of Fisheries Management ◽

10.1577/m07-038.e ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 527-528

Author(s):

C. Braxton Dew

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Mating Success ◽

Red King Crab ◽

Bristol Bay ◽

King Crab ◽

Abundance Estimates

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Fishery-induced changes in Norwegian red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) reproductive potential

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fst126 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 71 (2) ◽

pp. 365-373 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ann Merete Hjelset

Keyword(s):

Egg Production ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Reproductive Potential ◽

Size Composition ◽

Red King Crab ◽

Paralithodes Camtschaticus ◽

King Crab ◽

Males And Females ◽

Induced Changes ◽

Individual Fecundity

Abstract Hjelset, A. M. 2014. Fishery-induced changes in Norwegian red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) reproductive potential. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: 365–373. The introduced red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) in the Barents Sea supports a valuable fishery in northern Norway. In this paper, I examine the effect of the increased harvest rate and the recently added female quota on the potential egg production of the stock. The size ranges of males and females in the period 1995–2011 were recorded, and estimated stock abundance of ovigerous females and established individual fecundity parameters from 2000–2007 were used to assess the reproductive potential of the stock from 1995–2011. The upper size ranges of males and females decreased throughout the period studied, presumably mainly due to fishing. The change in size composition among ovigerous females and functional mature males, and the reduced mean individual fecundity in the stock seem to have had a negative effect on the potential egg production of the stock.

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