| Summary: | We refined a suite of hydrodynamic and individual-based models to understand how climate change may impact red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) recruitment in Bristol Bay, Alaska. We coupled a biophysical individual-based model (IBM) and a Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) circulation model to estimate connectivity between the location of red king crab larval release and benthic settlement location in the eastern Bering Sea including Bristol Bay. We conducted ROMS hindcasts for two representative years: 1999 (cold) and 2005 (warm), and a forecast for a predicted warm year: 2037. Scientific output includes ROMS model files, IBM data files, and a red king crab habitat map. We modified an existing blue king crab (Paralithodes platypus) individual-based model (IBM) that was originally based on snow crab to represent the appropriate biology for red king crab. The biophysical model (ROMS model coupled to an IBM) used was a modified version of the ICHTHYOP modeling tool and was adapted to the Bering Sea system. Salinity, temperature, sea level, and current fields obtained from ROMS were used to force the red king crab IBM over the same time frame and spatial resolution as the physical model. The biology of the early life history stages of red king crab from larval release to settlement was represented through the following mechanisms or processes: larval abundance at release, spatial distribution of larvae at release, hatching time, vertical movement, growth, horizontal movement, post-larval settlement rules, and mortality (i.e., habitat availability). The “Connectivity” folder consists of the connectivity map, information of the connectivity map vertices, and connectivity matrices for each month/year simulation. Note that supplemental metadata can be found in the file Metadata – Matrices_ RedKing Crab.txt. The “IBM output (netcdf)” folder contains trajectory information for each particle in for each initial condition/month/year simulation. The “Initial Conditions” folder contains a map showing the particle location in the initial conditions and the lat, long, and depth information for each simulated particle. The “Settlement” folder contains maps showing particle density at release and settlement for each simulation using the habitat map grid spatial resolution.
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