2006 MilestonesMarch - Alaska Crab Stock Enhancement and Rehabilitation Workshop, held in Kodiak.
June - Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG), Commercial Fisheries Division, issued permit to Jeff Stephan, United Fishermen's Marketing Association, and Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, to collect <30 adult red king crab (including 15 ovigerous females) from Alitak Bay, for brood stock and pathology/genetic sampling.
August - Alaska King Crab Research and Rehabilitation Program officially launched. (Note name change in 2007.)
- Under the UFMA/Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery collection permit,ADFG biologists collected 32 adult Kodiak red king crab (including 16 ovigerous females) for brood stock and pathology/genetic sampling. Adult crabs were sent to UAF Seward Marine Center, and housed in tanks once used by noted crab researcher A.J. Paul. Crabs are tended by UAF technician Phyllis Shoemaker.
- Two rooms at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Seward were remodeled to serve as a crab cultivation center, with tanks and associated plumbing installed to cultivate crab larvae.
October - Intense fall weather system delivered record rain and winds to Southcentral Alaska, causing major floor damage to parts of Seward. The Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery sustained major damage. Crews cleaned and repaired the hatchery, and upgraded equipment and facilities to accommodate adult crab and larvae.
- The first major organizational meeting was held in Anchorage on October 31. The Steering Committee was established, and program planning began.
ADFG Commercial Fisheries Division issued a permit to Heather McCarty of the Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association to collect 30 adult blue king crab, including 15 ovigerous females, from Pribilof Islands waters. November - A fisherman under contract from the Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association collected 28 blue king crab: 15 egg-bearing females and 13 additional males and non-egg bearing females.
- Hatchery technician Jim Swingle joined the research team at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, and began growing artemia (brine shrimp) used as food for crab and assisting with crab care and research studies.
December - Sara Persselin provided an overview of the project and progress to date to state and federal crab scientists and managers at the Alaska Interagency Crab Meeting held in Anchorage.
2007 Milestones January - Celeste Leroux, ASG graduate student, arrived in Seward to help finish set-up of the hatchery facilities and prepare for the hatching of the larval red king crab. Red king crab began releasing larvae in February and the brood stock were moved from the UAF Seward Marine Center to hatching tanks at the hatchery.
February - Red king crab released about two million larvae during February and March.
- NOAA Fisheries research biologist Sara Persselin spent two weeks in Seward assisting the final preparations for starting the larval red king crab experiments.
- Tours of research program provided to students and teachers participating in the 2007 Alaska Region, National Ocean Science Bowl.
March - Celeste Leroux began diet trials with the red king crab larvae.
- Jim Swingle stocked and maintained nearly 1.5 million larvae for hatchery rearing trials.
- An informational tour of the AKCRRAB Program was held in Seward on March 24. Fishing industry representatives, coastal community leaders, citizens, as well as state and federal scientists and resource managers, among others, attended the event, during which they learned about the program and participated in a tour of the Seward Marine Center and Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery. A contingent of state lawmakers and state resource agency officials who had attempted to fly into Seward, were unable to leave Anchorage due to inclement weather.
- Red king crab completed hatching larvae by the end of March and all but five of the adults were provided for pathology and genetic sampling. The remaining five adult crabs were used to train new research technician Ben Daly on sampling methodology.
April- Ben Daly began work on the project in April and will focus on the blue king crab projects. Daly, who received his master’s degree in 2007 for work on crab biology, replaces Jim Swingle, who left the program to fulfill family obligations in Juneau.
- Blue king crab, which normally release larvae up to two months later than red king crab, began hatching in mid-April. Research staff maintained the blue king crab in chilled seawater to delay the release of egg clutches until space needs and staffing arrangements were finalized.
- Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery and AKCRRAB Program tours were given to Arne Fuglvog of Senator Lisa Murkowski’s Washington, D.C. office; and to Dave and Barbara Woodruff from Alaska Fresh Seafoods in Kodiak; and to Mateo Paz-Soldan, an attorney with Saul Ewing in Washington, D.C., working with the Central Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association and the City of St. Paul. Simeon Swetzof, Mayor of St. Paul, also toured the Seward facilities.
May- Elementary school students from St. Paul were given a tour of Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, the UAF/SFOSSeward Marine Center, and AKCRRAB Program.
- Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery manager Jeff Hetrick presented an overview of the AKCRRAB Program to the leadership of the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association.
- Alaska Sea Grant produced a comprehensive multimedia web site to serve as a central information point for the AKCRRAB Program. The site offers extensive information on the program such as the science plans, progress reports, news releases, video, audio and photos, and other tools to communicate the program to the public. A secure, password protected, space within the site will be created for use by the program scientists and staff.
- Tours of the research program were given to Denis Wiesenburg, Dean of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, and Christina Neumann, SFOS academic manager.
- Ben Daly began blue king crab density and diet studies.
- Sara Persselin began assessment of seawater intake water quality, and the potential effects of ocean acidification on blue and red king crab.
- Survival of crab larvae begins to fall below expectations.
June- Brian Allee and Ginny Eckert met with ADFG leadership to discuss crab research.
- Congressional staff and NOAA Fisheries leadership toured the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery.
- Research interns joined the program
July- The AKCRRAB web site was opened to the public. The AKCRRAB internal site was opened to the Steering and Science Committees.
August- The AKCRRAB Science Briefing was held for NOAA and ADFG in Juneau.
September- Celeste Leroux presents AKCRRAB overview talk to NOAA Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
October- Ben Daly begins preliminary Kodiak field studies.
- Celeste Leroux begins biochemical analysis of king crab larvae at Fishery Industrial Technology Center, Kodiak.
- Red king crab broodstock collection permit obtained for 2008 larval rearing research. Crab to be collected from Bristol Bay.
- United Fishermen's Marketing Association coordinates AKCRRAB overview talk to Kodiak community presented by Sara Persselin, Ben Daly, and Celeste Leroux. Talk takes place at Fishermen's Hall.
NovemberF/V Stormbird delivers 18 RKC broodstock from Bering Sea to AKCRRAB program in Seward. DecemberAKCRRAB meeting held in Anchorage. Celeste Leroux and Ben Daly deliver presentation at ADFG Annual Inter-Agency Crab Meeting in Anchorage. 2008 MilestonesJanuaryCeleste Leroux and Benjamin Daly return to APSH in Seward to prepare for king crab hatch. Jim Swingle also came for about a week in January. February AKCRRAB genetics meeting held in Juneau. March Red king crab successfully hatch 2-3 million larvae at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery. April Adult egg-bearing blue king crab collected through the sea ice off Diomede Island. |
