A Bottom Trawl Survey for Tanner Crab in Prince William Sound, 2020
A Bottom Trawl Survey for Tanner Crab in Prince William Sound, 2020

Author: Wyatt J. Rhea-Fournier

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A large-mesh bottom trawl survey of Tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi was conducted in 2020 in the Prince William Sound Area (PWSA; Registration Area E) with the objective of establishing protocols for generating Tanner crab abundance estimates for a newly established survey area. New survey areas in PWSA were developed to assess new commercial fishery districts that were proposed at the 2021 Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting. Proposed fishery districts encompass historical fishing areas and areas fished in the recent commissioner’s permit fishery. Methodology from the historical PWSA trawl survey was applied to develop new trawl stations with the goal of calculating catch per unit effort (CPUE) to estimate abundance of historical legal size and legal-size male Tanner crab in the surveyed area. The 2020 survey produced a CPUE for male Tanner crab that were of the historical legal size of 28.4 crab per nmi2, which was the third lowest observation for any Alaska Department of Fish and Game trawl survey in the PWSA. The estimated abundance of historical legal-size male Tanner crab was 8,214 crab in the survey area, and the estimated abundance for legal-size male Tanner crab was 35,920 crab in the survey area.

Operational Plan
Operational Plan

Author: Wyatt J. Rhea-Fournier

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 31

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The primary objective of the 2020 Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, large-mesh bottom trawl survey is to develop a new survey area in the inside waters of Prince William Sound. Methodology from the historical trawl survey will be applied to develop new trawl stations with the goal of generating abundance estimates for the surveyed area. Abundance estimates will be generated for current and historical legal-size male Tanner crab for management purposes. Male Tanner crab biological measurements will be collected for estimating size at morphological maturity and mature male crab will be tagged for observing season movement.

A Bottom Trawl Survey for Crabs in the Prince William Sound Management Area, August 3-13, 1992
A Bottom Trawl Survey for Crabs in the Prince William Sound Management Area, August 3-13, 1992

Author: Charles E. Trowbridge

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Survey objectives were: determine Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) stock abundance in the Prince William Sound Management Area; document size and shell age for crabs caught in the region; determine corresponding egg condition of the females caught; record size and number of Pacific cod and other groundfish species in the region.

A Bottom Trawl Survey for Crabs in the Prince William Sound Management Area, August 20-30, 1991
A Bottom Trawl Survey for Crabs in the Prince William Sound Management Area, August 20-30, 1991

Author: Al Kimker

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Survey objectives were: determine Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) stock abundance in the Prince William Sound Management Area; document size and shell age for crabs caught in the region; determine corresponding egg condition of the females caught; record size and number of Pacific cod and other groundfish species in the region.

Prince William Sound Tanner Crab Commercial Fishery Harvest Strategy Recommendations and Proposed Assessment, 2022
Prince William Sound Tanner Crab Commercial Fishery Harvest Strategy Recommendations and Proposed Assessment, 2022

Author: Wyatt J. Rhea-Fournier

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 30

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has developed a Tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi commercial fishery harvest strategy recommendation with an associated trawl survey assessment for the Prince William Sound Area (PWSA). Methods for developing this harvest strategy follow the approach in the Registration Area E Tanner crab harvest strategy, and methods for developing the survey assessment follow the approach for the historical ADF&G PWSA large-mesh bottom trawl survey. New areas have been proposed and defined within the PWSA with minimum abundance thresholds to open a commercial fishery and harvest rates specific to each area. A bottom trawl survey has been designed for each of the areas to estimate the abundance of Tanner crab and assess if the minimum abundance threshold has been met. Trawl surveys have been completed in 2 of the areas occurring in 2020 and 2021 with results indicating that the abundance estimate does not meet the minimum abundance threshold to open a commercial fishery for Tanner crab in those 2 areas. These recommendations will provide the basis for ADF&G proposals to be submitted at the November 2021 Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting and will inform commercial fishery management decisions in 2022.

A Bottom Trawl Survey for Tanner Crab in Kachemak Bay, 2018 and 2019
A Bottom Trawl Survey for Tanner Crab in Kachemak Bay, 2018 and 2019

Author: Wyatt J. Rhea-Fournier

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A bottom trawl survey was conducted in 2018 and 2019 to estimate density and infer abundance of Tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi in Kachemak Bay. The survey was conducted aboard the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) research vessel Pandalus using a 400-mesh Eastern otter trawl (large-mesh trawl). In 2018, the survey caught 12,568 male Tanner crab of which 348 were of legal size, ≥114mm (4.5 in), to produce a mean catch per unit effort (CPUE) of 18.06 legal-size crab/nmi and yielded an abundance estimate of 222,852 legal-size crab. In 2019, the survey caught 1,682 male Tanner crab of which 421 were of legal size to produce a mean CPUE of 22.17 legal-size crab/nmi and yielded an abundance estimate of 273,511 legal-size crab. The 2017, 2018, and 2019 survey results produced a 3-year mean of 207,109 legal-size male crab which allowed the standard noncommercial fisheries to occur for the 2019–2020 season. In 2018, the survey caught 4,193 female Tanner crab of which 1,566 were mature to produce a mean CPUE of 82.25 mature female crab/nmi and yielded an abundance estimate of 1,014,869 mature female crab. In 2019, the survey caught 2,660 female Tanner crab of which 2,295 were mature to produce a mean CPUE of 120.66 mature female crab/nmi and yielded an abundance estimate of 1,488,880 mature female crab. Abundance estimates of legal-size male Tanner crab were slightly above the long-term mean, and mature female Tanner crab were substantially above the long-term mean of the survey time series.

A Bottom Trawl Survey for Tanner Crab in Kachemak Bay, 2017
A Bottom Trawl Survey for Tanner Crab in Kachemak Bay, 2017

Author: Wyatt J. Rhea-Fournier

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A bottom trawl survey was conducted from August 29 to September 6, 2017, to estimate density and infer abundance of Tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi in Kachemak Bay within the Southern District of the Cook Inlet Area. The survey was conducted aboard ADF&G's research vessel Pandalus using a 400-mesh Eastern otter trawl (large-mesh trawl). The survey caught 1,481 male Tanner crab of which 137 (9%) were of legal size (114 mm carapace width or greater) to produce a mean CPUE of 10.13 crab/nmi (CV = 0.52) and yielded an abundance estimate of 124,965 legal crab. Legal male Tanner crab were caught at 11 of the 38 stations with 90% of the total legal males caught at only 5 stations. The survey caught 1,350 female Tanner crab of which 348 (26%) were mature to produce a mean CPUE of 24.08 crab/nmi (CV = 0.50) and yielded an abundance estimate of 297,126 mature crab. Abundance estimates of legal male and mature female Tanner crab were well below the long-term average of the survey time series.

Operational Plan
Operational Plan

Author: Michael Knutson

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The goal of the large-mesh bottom trawl survey is to provide fishery managers with current stock status information for Tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi, red king crab Paralithodes camtschaticus, and commercially important groundfish stocks in the Kodiak, Chignik, South Peninsula, and Eastern Aleutian Tanner crab districts of Westward Registration Area J. The large-mesh bottom trawl survey utilizes a 400-mesh eastern otter trawl to survey these districts and provide crab abundance estimates, size frequency distributions, density estimates, and spatial distribution of commercially important crab and groundfish to support fisheries management.

Prince William Sound Commissioner’s Permit Tanner Crab Fishery, 2018–2021
Prince William Sound Commissioner’s Permit Tanner Crab Fishery, 2018–2021

Author: Jan Rumble

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 25

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This management report summarizes Tanner crab Chionoecetes bairdi harvest, effort, and location information from the Prince William Sound (Registration Area E) Commissioner’s Permit Tanner crab fishery (CPF) 2018–2021 prosecuted in the Eastern and Western Districts. In 2018, the first year of the CPF, harvest was 83,338 pounds and 47,394 crab by 14 vessels and 3,736 pot lifts; the overall fishery catch per unit effort (CPUE) was 12.7 crab per pot. In 2019, CPF harvest peaked at 124,707 pounds and 74,407 crab by 14 vessels and 4,841 pot lifts; the fishery CPUE was 15.4 crab per pot. The overall CPF effort represented by the number of vessels and pot lifts was highest in 2020 at 22 vessels and 5,885 pot lifts. However, CPF harvest in 2020 decreased to 108,859 pounds, 64,557 crab, and a fishery CPUE of 11.0 crab per pot, which was the lowest CPUE for the fishery. In 2021, the CPF harvest and effort dropped to the lowest levels at 56,351 pounds, 33,803 crab by 10 vessels, and 2,923 pot lifts, but the fishery CPUE of 11.6 crab per pot was higher than in 2020. A Tanner crab test fishery was conducted in the Northern and Hinchinbrook Districts in 2020 and 2021 with defined fishing areas (lots) and a maximum of 5,000 pounds available per lot. In 2020, there were 6 lots available, and in 2021 there were 5 lots available for bid. In 2020, 5 vessels participated and harvested 23,771 pounds and 12,917 crab in 796 pot lifts for an overall CPUE of 16.2 crab per pot. In 2021, 2 vessels participated in the test fishery and harvested 15,910 pounds and 8,368 crab in 552 pot lifts for an overall CPUE of 15.2 crab per pot.