Draft- Norton Sound Red King Crab Stock Assessment April 30, 2013 Norton Sound Red King Crab Stock Assessment for the fishing year 2013/14
2. Catches. This stock supports three main fisheries: summer commercial, winter commercial, and winter subsistence fisheries. Of those, the summer commercial fishery accounts for more than 90 % of total harvest. Summer commercial fishery started in 1977, and its catch quickly reached a peak in the l...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.396.9726 http://www.alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/npfmc/PDFdocuments/membership/PlanTeam/Crab/May2013/NSRKC.pdf |
| Summary: | 2. Catches. This stock supports three main fisheries: summer commercial, winter commercial, and winter subsistence fisheries. Of those, the summer commercial fishery accounts for more than 90 % of total harvest. Summer commercial fishery started in 1977, and its catch quickly reached a peak in the late 1970s with retained catch of over 2.9 million pounds. Since 1982, retained catches have been below 0.5 million pounds, averaging 0.275 million pounds, including several low years in the 1990s. As the crab population rebounds, retained catches have been increasing. For past several years, retained catch is around 0.4 million pounds. 3. Stock Biomass. Estimated mature male biomass (MMB) shows an increasing trend since 1997, and an historic low in 1982 following a crash from the peak in 1977. However, uncertainty in historical biomass is great, which is in part by infrequent trawl surveys (every 3 to 5 years) and limited winter pot survey. 4. Recruitment. Model estimated recruitment was weak during the late 1970s and high during the early 1980s with a slight downward trend from 1983 to 1993. Estimated recruitment has been highly variable but on an increasing trend in recent years. |
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