Research biologist Jim Swingle joins Alaska Sea Grant

Photo courtesy of Jim Swingle.

Jim Swingle has been a lead hatchery biologist in the AKCRRAB enhancement effort since the program’s initiation in 2006. His continued involvement is vital to the success of the AKCRRAB hatchery program. Swingle’s expertise and dedication to the project contributed significantly to advancements in large-scale larval rearing and successful hatchery production of 100,000 red king crab juveniles in 2009, a milestone for the AKCRRAB program. Important research is being carried out on juvenile king crabs produced at the hatchery. The juvenile stage has been little studied so far, and may be a critical phase because juveniles are vulnerable to predation and need access to food.

In 2009, Swingle co-authored a paper on the effects of diet, stocking density, and substrate on juvenile red king crab rearing, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Aquaculture, and he has written a draft of a hatchery production manual on red king crab. Swingle earned a B.S. in fisheries from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and came to AKCRRAB with 16 years of shellfish hatchery research and production experience mainly with shrimp and oysters in Hawaii. His hands-on experience was a critical to getting the AKCRRAB program initiated and running. Previously employed by the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, Swingle now joins Alaska Sea Grant and will be based in Seward and Juneau.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB 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.