Alaska Red King Crab Enhancement: Juvenile Growth and Field Habitat Studies
Project overview
The issue
Dramatic and still-unexplained declines of wild Pribilof Islands blue king crab and Kodiak Island red king crab have caused their populations to remain low for decades, resulting in closed and curtailed fisheries that have limited the economic opportunities of Alaska fishing-dependent communities. Large-scale enhancement has been promoted as a way to help these wild stocks recover.
Why is this an Alaska Sea Grant project?
This project responds to the need for red king crab enhancement research expressed by area residents, community leaders, and commercial fishing trade groups and associations.
The researchers
Principal Investigator: Sherri Tamone, Biology and Marine Biology, University of Alaska Southeast
Principal Investigator: Ginny Eckert, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Graduate student: Miranda Westphal, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks
What will researchers do?
Researchers will study the early benthic stages of red king crab through laboratory studies on growth and field studies on the functional importance of biogenic habitats. The knowledge gained will be critical to an effective pilot stocking program and important to the evaluation of a potential enhancement program.
Project status
This is a new project. Please check back for updates on what the researchers have learned.
