Millions of red king crab larvae hatch at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery

Rearing tanks stocked at 50 larvae per liter.

Larval rearing is well under way at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery as the red king crab release their larvae. The 20 ovigerous females were collected by the crew of the F/V Stormbird from Bristol Bay, in November 2008, arranged by Jeff Stephan of United Fishermen's Marketing Association. Each adult female holds about 250,000 embryos and at peak hatch releases up to 15,000 larvae per day. About 2 million larvae have been released since hatching began on March 18, and hatch rates are now subsiding. Biologists are monitoring larval release to understand hatch patterns and fecundity of each female. Researchers are rearing larvae in tanks ranging from 190 to 1200 liters, so they can test effects of water temperature, tank design, diet, and stocking density to better understand criteria for hatchery production. The good survival rate in 2008 gives biologists at the hatchery high hopes that 2009 will be another successful year.

In other news, a research article on the results of 2008 juvenile rearing experiments was recently accepted for publication in Aquaculture, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Titled "Effects of diet, stocking density, and substrate on survival and growth of hatchery-cultured red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) juveniles in Alaska, USA," the paper is coauthored by Benjamin Daly, James S. Swingle, and Ginny L. Eckert.

The Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology (AKCRRAB) program is a research and enhancement project sponsored by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members. For more information go to http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/initiatives/king_crab/general.