Performance of two red king crab pot designs
We conducted a laboratory experiment to compare effectiveness of two pot designs in reducing the bycatch of female and sublegal-sized male red king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus) while retaining legal males. One pot (pot A) was a simulated standard king crab pot; a newly designed pot (pot B) had...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1997
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f97-094 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/f97-094 |
| Summary: | We conducted a laboratory experiment to compare effectiveness of two pot designs in reducing the bycatch of female and sublegal-sized male red king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus) while retaining legal males. One pot (pot A) was a simulated standard king crab pot; a newly designed pot (pot B) had smaller mesh size, lower and wider entrances, and one-way opening triggers. Pot B prevented crabs from inserting their chelipeds through the mesh, motivated crabs to search for the entrance, eased the entry for all crabs, and facilitated the escape for all crabs but legal-sized males. Given that crabs had approached the pot, the mean entry probability for all crabs was 0.63 for pot B and only 0.13 for pot A. The probability of escape for females and sublegal males averaged 0.72 for pot B compared with 0.28 for pot A. As a result, the new pot design reduced the catch probability of females and sublegal males by over 60% while it increased the catch probability of legal males by over 25%. |
|---|