Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management
This thesis seeks to develop a better understanding of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio), a nonnative species that has established in the Barents Sea. Very little is known about the species role in the ecosystem, but it can be perceived both as a pest and as a goldmine. It is expected that the populat...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Master Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7746 |
id |
ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/7746 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/7746 2023-05-15T15:38:03+02:00 Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management Hansen, Harald Sakarias Brøvig 2015-05-15 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7746 eng eng UiT The Arctic University of Norway UiT Norges arktiske universitet https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7746 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_7333 openAccess Copyright 2015 The Author(s) Snow crab Chionoecetes opilio Non-native species Invasive species Pest Transformer Immigrant Sedentary Barents Sea Loophole Svalbard fishery protection zone Fisheries management Diet study Stomach analysis Snøkrabbe VDP::Landbruks- og Fiskerifag: 900::Fiskerifag: 920 VDP::Agriculture and fishery disciplines: 900::Fisheries science: 920 FSK-3910 Master thesis Mastergradsoppgave 2015 ftunivtroemsoe 2021-06-25T17:54:18Z This thesis seeks to develop a better understanding of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio), a nonnative species that has established in the Barents Sea. Very little is known about the species role in the ecosystem, but it can be perceived both as a pest and as a goldmine. It is expected that the population will accommodate a significant fishery. As a non-native benthic crustacean spreading throughout a continental shelf shared between Norway and Russia, snow crab is legally a challenging management object. This thesis attempts to predict probable future distribution of the Barents Sea snow crab as well as ecosystem effects, and discuss management challenges. The research subject has been approached with a combination of a literature review and a diet study. Snow crab can potentially colonize most of eastern, central and northern Barents Sea. As an omnivorous benthic feeder it will likely affect important ecosystem processes, but the severity of snow crabs impact is unknown. It might in fact strengthen the pelagic-benthic coupling in the Barents Sea. As it seems that snow crab is a sedentary species, most of the commercial stock is currently Russian, but it is likely that it will spread into Norwegian zones soon. Two potential management strategies for the Barents Sea snow crab are discussed; “the pest strategy” and “the ecosystem based fishery strategy”. Master Thesis Barents Sea Chionoecetes opilio Snow crab Snøkrabbe Svalbard University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Barents Sea Norway Svalbard |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Snow crab Chionoecetes opilio Non-native species Invasive species Pest Transformer Immigrant Sedentary Barents Sea Loophole Svalbard fishery protection zone Fisheries management Diet study Stomach analysis Snøkrabbe VDP::Landbruks- og Fiskerifag: 900::Fiskerifag: 920 VDP::Agriculture and fishery disciplines: 900::Fisheries science: 920 FSK-3910 |
spellingShingle |
Snow crab Chionoecetes opilio Non-native species Invasive species Pest Transformer Immigrant Sedentary Barents Sea Loophole Svalbard fishery protection zone Fisheries management Diet study Stomach analysis Snøkrabbe VDP::Landbruks- og Fiskerifag: 900::Fiskerifag: 920 VDP::Agriculture and fishery disciplines: 900::Fisheries science: 920 FSK-3910 Hansen, Harald Sakarias Brøvig Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management |
topic_facet |
Snow crab Chionoecetes opilio Non-native species Invasive species Pest Transformer Immigrant Sedentary Barents Sea Loophole Svalbard fishery protection zone Fisheries management Diet study Stomach analysis Snøkrabbe VDP::Landbruks- og Fiskerifag: 900::Fiskerifag: 920 VDP::Agriculture and fishery disciplines: 900::Fisheries science: 920 FSK-3910 |
description |
This thesis seeks to develop a better understanding of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio), a nonnative species that has established in the Barents Sea. Very little is known about the species role in the ecosystem, but it can be perceived both as a pest and as a goldmine. It is expected that the population will accommodate a significant fishery. As a non-native benthic crustacean spreading throughout a continental shelf shared between Norway and Russia, snow crab is legally a challenging management object. This thesis attempts to predict probable future distribution of the Barents Sea snow crab as well as ecosystem effects, and discuss management challenges. The research subject has been approached with a combination of a literature review and a diet study. Snow crab can potentially colonize most of eastern, central and northern Barents Sea. As an omnivorous benthic feeder it will likely affect important ecosystem processes, but the severity of snow crabs impact is unknown. It might in fact strengthen the pelagic-benthic coupling in the Barents Sea. As it seems that snow crab is a sedentary species, most of the commercial stock is currently Russian, but it is likely that it will spread into Norwegian zones soon. Two potential management strategies for the Barents Sea snow crab are discussed; “the pest strategy” and “the ecosystem based fishery strategy”. |
format |
Master Thesis |
author |
Hansen, Harald Sakarias Brøvig |
author_facet |
Hansen, Harald Sakarias Brøvig |
author_sort |
Hansen, Harald Sakarias Brøvig |
title |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management |
title_short |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management |
title_full |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management |
title_fullStr |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management |
title_full_unstemmed |
Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea. Diet, biology and management |
title_sort |
snow crab (chionoecetes opilio) in the barents sea. diet, biology and management |
publisher |
UiT The Arctic University of Norway |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7746 |
geographic |
Barents Sea Norway Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Barents Sea Norway Svalbard |
genre |
Barents Sea Chionoecetes opilio Snow crab Snøkrabbe Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Barents Sea Chionoecetes opilio Snow crab Snøkrabbe Svalbard |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/7746 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_7333 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2015 The Author(s) |
_version_ |
1766368748418105344 |