Minimum landing size for Northeast Atlantic stocks of deep-water red crab, Chaceon affinis (Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1894)

• Published in: ICES Journal of Marine Science
• Main Author: Robinson, Martin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2008
• Subjects: Ecology; Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsm189; http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/65/2/148/29129675/fsm189.pdf

Abstract Robinson, M. 2008. Minimum landing size for Northeast Atlantic stocks of deep-water red crab, Chaceon affinis (Milne Edwards and Bouvier, 1894). – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 148–154. Annual landings of the deep-water red crab (Chaceon affinis) in the NE Atlantic have fluctuated around 1000 t for much of the past decade, but they dropped significantly in 2006. No EU or National Member State legislation governs the harvest of the species, and because of the on-board processing, it is difficult to set a single minimum landing size (MLS) based on carapace width (CW) alone. As the claws are detached during processing and represent the most valuable component of the catch, a supplementary MLS based on claw length (CL) for onshore inspection and enforcement would seem appropriate. Physiological size-at-maturity and morphometric claw data were used to derive primary (CW) and secondary (CL) MLS. All males and females are mature at 110 and 125 mm CW, respectively, and 50% of females are mature at 109 mm CW. Because of a lack of information relating to the biology, distribution, and fishing mortality of the species, and a doubt as to real landing statistics, a conservative MLS of 120 mm CW and 72 mm CL is suggested, representing the first use of commercial fisheries data to suggest MLS for this otherwise unregulated fishery.