Data from the research of the Pribilof Islands blue king crab (Paralithodes platypus) recruitment limitation as a potential bottleneck to rebuilding from overfished status, Saint Paul Island, 2017-2019

• Main Authors: Jared Weems, Ginny Eckert, William Long
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Research Workspace 2021
• Subjects: OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN > BERING SEA; 2016-2019; Bering Sea; crab fisheries; juvenile crab; crab; community assessment; benthic communities; fish community structure; subtidal community ecology; sediment communities; habitat associations; benthic habitat; essential fish habitat; predation; habitat; recruitment; red king crab; blue king crab; Pacific; Saint-Paul; Gunnel; Paralithodes camtschaticus; Paralithodes platypus; Red king crab; Saint-Paul Island
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/10.24431_rw1k6br_20220104T182411Z

This project conducted nearshore field studies on Saint Paul Island from 2017-2019 and investigated larval supply, habitat availability, and predation on juveniles as potential factors limiting recruitment and to inform future rebuilding efforts. It quantified larval supply with settlement collectors located at new and historically sampled (1983-1984) sites and found extremely low abundance of blue king crab settlers (total = 8) compared to red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) settlers (total = 145) and historical data on blue king crab. The assessment of benthic habitat was similar (87% match) to historical surveys. Complex shell hash substrate, which is preferred habitat for blue king crab juveniles, is still abundant. Demersal fish communities in diver surveys during 2017-2018 were dominated by kelp greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammos), yellow Irish lord (Hemilepidotus jordani), crescent gunnel (Pholis laeta), northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra), Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis), and Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus). Analysis of stomach contents revealed adult fish prey items included pygmy rock cancer (Glebocarcinus oregonensis) and decorator crab (Oregonia gracilis) species (23% of diets by weight) but no red or blue king crab. Tethering experiments documented kelp greenling and wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) predation on juvenile red king crab; with encounter and attack rate increasing with adult fish density. Data from this project is organized into 3 subfolders: 1) Final data and metadata: all data used in the project including the historical data. Each .csv data file is accompanied with the metadata. 2) R Scripts - Final Report: R Scripts used for creating figures for the final report. The final report can be downloaded here: http://projects.nprb.org/#metadata/0df136dc-2c01-4c2b-8305-cdec02eb3bd3/project. 3) 2017-2019 CTD profiles figures: includes 36 tiff files depicting CTD profiles in various locations around the study area in 2017, 2018, and 2019. This dataset was generated under NPRB project 1608.