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News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/initiatives/king-crab/newsflash/[2/20/2013 12:35:54 PM] AKCRRAB home AKCRRAB links Partners and supporters Committees Information News Flash News Presentations, posters, and fact sheets Photo gallery Audio and video clips Links and resources Research Scientific publications Science plans Related projects Archives News Flash archives News archives Science plan archives Milestones Progress reports Presentations, posters, fact sheets archives Contact us Inquiries Staff Internal site AKCRRAB internal site (login required) Home Marine Advisory Program Bookstore News Meetings Sitemap Contact us Search News Flash Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program (AKCRRAB) Scientists involved in AKCRRAB research highlight their work each month in a newsletter called AKCRRAB News Flash. Subscribers will receive the newsletter electronically, and recent issues are posted here. Older issues are in the News Flash archives. To receive AKCRRAB News Flash by email, contact Sue Keller, (907) 474-6703. Recent issues January 2013: Genetic population structure of blue king crab December 2012: Fishers and processors collect and ship blue king crab for research November 2012: Old Harbor community supports AKCRRAB October 2012: Female red king crabs collected in southeast Alaska for new study September 2012: Comparing temperature effects on molting and growth of newly settled red and blue king crabs August 2012: NOAA ecological research on hatchery-cultured blue king crabs July 2012: Blue king crab rearing experiment shows low cannibalistic mortality in first juvenile stages June 2012: Juvenile blue king crabs shipped from Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery for research May 2012: Researchers improve blue king crab culture technology and achieve high survival at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery April 2012: Blue king crab larvae hatch at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery March 2012: Researchers assess predation of hatchery-cultured juvenile red king crabs in the wild February 2012: Blue king crab behavior and habitat preference in the presence of competitors and predators
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News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

May 05, 2023

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Page 1: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/initiatives/king-crab/newsflash/[2/20/2013 12:35:54 PM]

AKCRRAB home

AKCRRAB links

Partners andsupporters

Committees

Information

News Flash

News

Presentations, posters,and fact sheets

Photo gallery

Audio and video clips

Links and resources

Research

Scientific publications

Science plans

Related projects

Archives

News Flash archives

News archives

Science plan archives

Milestones

Progress reports

Presentations, posters,fact sheets archives

Contact us

Inquiries

Staff

Internal site

AKCRRAB internal site(login required)

Home Marine Advisory Program Bookstore News Meetings Sitemap Contact us Search

News FlashAlaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and BiologyProgram (AKCRRAB)

Scientists involved in AKCRRAB research highlighttheir work each month in a newsletter calledAKCRRAB News Flash. Subscribers will receive thenewsletter electronically, and recent issues areposted here. Older issues are in the News Flasharchives.

To receive AKCRRAB News Flash by email, contact SueKeller, (907) 474-6703.

Recent issuesJanuary 2013: Genetic population structure ofblue king crab

December 2012: Fishers and processorscollect and ship blue king crab for research

November 2012: Old Harbor communitysupports AKCRRAB

October 2012: Female red king crabs collected in southeast Alaska for newstudy

September 2012: Comparing temperature effects on molting and growth ofnewly settled red and blue king crabs

August 2012: NOAA ecological research on hatchery-cultured blue king crabs

July 2012: Blue king crab rearing experiment shows low cannibalisticmortality in first juvenile stages

June 2012: Juvenile blue king crabs shipped from Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatchery for research

May 2012: Researchers improve blue king crab culture technology andachieve high survival at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery

April 2012: Blue king crab larvae hatch at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery

March 2012: Researchers assess predation of hatchery-cultured juvenile redking crabs in the wild

February 2012: Blue king crab behavior and habitat preference in thepresence of competitors and predators

Page 2: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/initiatives/king-crab/newsflash/index.php[2/20/2013 12:36:07 PM]

AKCRRAB home

AKCRRAB links

Partners andsupporters

Committees

Information

News Flash

News

Presentations, posters,and fact sheets

Photo gallery

Audio and video clips

Links and resources

Research

Scientific publications

Science plans

Related projects

Archives

News Flash archives

News archives

Science plan archives

Milestones

Progress reports

Presentations, posters,fact sheets archives

Contact us

Inquiries

Staff

Internal site

AKCRRAB internal site(login required)

Home Marine Advisory Program Bookstore News Meetings Sitemap Contact us Search

News FlashAlaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and BiologyProgram (AKCRRAB)

Scientists involved in AKCRRAB research highlighttheir work each month in a newsletter calledAKCRRAB News Flash. Subscribers will receive thenewsletter electronically, and recent issues areposted here. Older issues are in the News Flasharchives.

To receive AKCRRAB News Flash by email, contact SueKeller, (907) 474-6703.

Recent issuesJanuary 2013: Genetic population structure ofblue king crab

December 2012: Fishers and processorscollect and ship blue king crab for research

November 2012: Old Harbor communitysupports AKCRRAB

October 2012: Female red king crabs collected in southeast Alaska for newstudy

September 2012: Comparing temperature effects on molting and growth ofnewly settled red and blue king crabs

August 2012: NOAA ecological research on hatchery-cultured blue king crabs

July 2012: Blue king crab rearing experiment shows low cannibalisticmortality in first juvenile stages

June 2012: Juvenile blue king crabs shipped from Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatchery for research

May 2012: Researchers improve blue king crab culture technology andachieve high survival at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery

April 2012: Blue king crab larvae hatch at Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery

March 2012: Researchers assess predation of hatchery-cultured juvenile redking crabs in the wild

February 2012: Blue king crab behavior and habitat preference in thepresence of competitors and predators

Page 3: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, December 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1212akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:36:42 PM]

Adult blue king crab. Photoby Ginny Eckert.

December 2012

Fishers and processors collect and shipblue king crab for researchSixteen egg-bearing blue king crab were captured off St.Matthew Island by the F/V Bristol Mariner in November, asan in-kind contribution to AKCRRAB. The vessel is ownedby Kevin Kaldestad and skippered by Tom Suryan. Thefemale crabs were delivered to St. Paul, where TridentSeafoods took good care of them and staff of the CentralBering Sea Fishermen’s Association packaged and shippedthe crabs to Seward. The crabs will be maintained inSeward until their larvae hatch in the spring. At that time,research will be conducted at the Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatchery to refine techniques to increase hatchery production.

Since the beginning of the AKCRRAB program in 2006, blue king crab have proven moredifficult to rear in the hatchery than red king crab. But in 2012 AKCRRAB biologistsachieved a breakthrough, when they attained high survival (53%) of blue king crab fromhatching to the first juvenile stage by modifying the diet and adjusting the seawaterexchange technique. In 2013, AKCRRAB biologists hope to replicate this success and testwhether similar survival can be achieved at higher stocking densities to further increase thehatchery production capacity. This is part of the AKCRRAB program’s ongoing effort toutilize science and technology to help restore depleted populations of king crab andsafeguard the future of Alaska’s king crab fisheries.

News Flash is edited by Ginny Eckert. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation projectsponsored by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and OceanSciences, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industrymembers.

Page 4: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, November 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1211akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:36:51 PM]

Village of Old Harbor, Alaska.

November 2012

Old Harbor community supportsAKCRRABParticipation by the village of Old Harbor on KodiakIsland has been crucial to the AKCRRAB program'ssuccess. With help from the Old Harbor Tribal Council,the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery obtained fundingthrough an Administration for Native Americans grant tosupport research that developed hatchery techniques forrearing red king crab juveniles. Experiments conducted inlarge-scale hatchery tanks led to the production of morethan 100,000 red king crab juveniles in 2009 and 2010,demonstrating that large-scale hatchery production of redking crab is feasible in Alaska. This technology could be used in the future to help restoredepleted king crab stocks around the village of Old Harbor and in other regions of thestate.

In addition to helping secure funding for AKCRRAB research, members of the Old Harborcommunity have provided hands-on support for the project over the years. For example, in2009 and 2010 Old Harbor residents worked at the hatchery, assisting with and learningabout red king crab rearing techniques, and in November 2012 Old Harbor communitymembers orchestrated the collection of red king crab broodstock from this region for spring2013 hatchery experiments. Support from Old Harbor and other coastal communitiescontinues to be crucial as the AKCRRAB program develops technology and conductsresearch aimed at restoring depleted red king crab stocks for the benefit of Alaska'ssubsistence, commercial, and personal use fishermen.

News Flash is edited by Ginny Eckert. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation projectsponsored by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and OceanSciences, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industrymembers.

Page 5: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, October 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1210akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:36:59 PM]

ADFG used the R/V Medeiato collect ovigerous red kingcrabs.

October 2012

Female red king crabs collected insoutheast Alaska for new studyFemale red king crabs from the Juneau area were collectedin October 2012 by the Alaska Department and Fish andGame on the R/V Medeia, and transported to the School ofFisheries and Ocean Sciences Juneau Center, University ofAlaska Fairbanks, where they will spend the winter. Thesecrabs are ovigerous, which means they are carryingembryos; the embryos will hatch into larvae in spring2013.

AKCRRAB biologists from the Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatchery, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and OregonState University will use the larvae in a new studydesigned to optimize the diet of larval king crab, funded by Alaska Sea Grant. PreviousAKCRRAB studies found that larvae fed enriched Artemia had higher survival. The newstudy will rear larvae with specific enrichments of essential fatty acids and evaluate thecondition of larvae with biochemical and hatchery health indices. A comparison of thehatchery health index with the biochemical composition of the larvae will provide a“standard curve” to assess larval condition. If the hatchery health index proves to be a goodindication of biochemical condition, the inexpensive method can be used in the hatcherysetting to easily and quickly assess larval “health.” The outcome of the project will be thepotential to design aquaculture live-food enrichments that are customized to the nutritionalneeds of Alaska king crab larvae.

News Flash is edited by Ginny Eckert. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation projectsponsored by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and OceanSciences, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industrymembers.

Page 6: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, September 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1209akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:37:08 PM]

Three year old blue king crabcultured at the hatchery in2009. Photo by G.L. Eckert.

September 2012

Comparing temperature effects onmolting and growth of newly settledred and blue king crabsIn summer 2012 NOAA Newport Laboratory researchersstudied blue king crab juvenile molting, growth, and lipidstorage at several temperatures. The Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatchery supplied the juveniles from larvae reared there inspring 2012. Juvenile blue king crabs were cultured inlow-density populations (150 per cubic meter) andindividually at four temperatures: 1.5, 4.5, 8, and 12°C.After 60 days, crabs cultured in populations andindividually showed no difference in growth rates, andmortality was low (2–6%) in all temperature treatments. Inidentical experiments conducted in 2010, red king crabsgrew faster in populations and had substantially higher mortality (23–40%) likely fromcannibalism. A comparison of growth in the blue and red king crab experiments showedthat red king crabs molt more often than blue king crabs and grow larger with each molt.Therefore, at any temperature red king crabs will achieve larger size than blue king crabs ina given time. While red king crabs grew more in warmer temperatures, the maximumgrowth of blue king crabs occurred at 8°C suggesting that the warmest experimentaltemperature (12°C) may be too high for blue king crabs.

These results indicate that blue king crabs will require more time in culture than red kingcrabs to reach comparable size, but this can be offset by higher survival. Also, blue kingcrabs will grow best where temperatures do not exceed 8°C, perhaps in deeper or in morenorthern waters. Blue king crabs also may be more vulnerable to the long-term rise inocean temperature in Alaska.

News Flash is edited by Ginny Eckert. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation projectsponsored by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and OceanSciences, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industrymembers.

Page 7: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, August 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1208akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:37:18 PM]

Juvenile blue king crab ongillnet. Photo by Ben Daly.

August 2012

NOAA ecological research onhatchery-cultured blue king crabsIn collaboration with AKCRRAB, the NOAA AlaskaFisheries Science Center in Kodiak plans to conduct blueking crab research using hatchery-cultured juveniles.Researchers will investigate the thermal tolerance, uppertemperature threshold, and fine scale growth at elevatedtemperatures to help predict how wild blue king crabstocks will fare in the face of global climate change. Otheravenues of blue king crab research using hatchery-cultured juveniles include predator-prey interactions andhabitat requirements. To support this research, the AlutiiqPride Shellfish Hatchery shipped over 12,000 juvenile blue king crabs to the NOAA Kodiaklaboratory, which marks the largest single shipment by AKCRRAB to date.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

To receive AKCRRAB News Flash by email, contact Sue Keller, (907)474-6703.

Header photo of king crab glaucothoe by Celeste Leroux.

Page 8: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, July 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1207akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:37:28 PM]

Juvenile blue king crab (2.0mm carapace width) used inhatchery experiment. Photocourtesy of Ben Daly.

July 2012

Blue king crab rearing experimentshows low cannibalistic mortality infirst juvenile stagesResearchers at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatcheryconducted a large-scale blue king crab rearing experiment,looking at effects of high stocking densities during the firstjuvenile instar stages. The experiment was initiated afterthe crabs transitioned from the semi-benthic post-larval(glaucothoe) stage to the first benthic juvenile instar stage(C1). The crabs were stocked at 500, 1000, 2000, 4000,

and 6000 crabs per m3 and reared for 42 days at 10°C.Survival was above 89% for all stocking densities. Asimilar study with red king crabs lasting 42 days at 8°C, in2008, yielded survivals of 59, 55, and 45% at densities of

500, 1000, and 2000 crabs per m3.

Though cannibalism is problematic for red king crab nursery rearing, it is unknown if blueking crabs exhibit similar cannibalistic mortality. The lower mortality suggests cannibalismmay be less problematic for blue king crabs than red king crabs, at least during the firstjuvenile instar stages. Even at a warmer temperature, the blue king crabs grew slower thanred king crabs. By the end of 42 days, blue king crabs reached the C2 stage (1 molt), whilered king crabs reached the C2 and C3 stages (1–2 molts). Crabs are more vulnerable tocannibalism during molting because of a lack of defensive armor. The additional molting ofred king crabs may partially explain their lower survival. The higher blue king crab survivalshows that individuals can be stocked at high densities during the first juvenile instar stageswithout compromising hatchery production, which has important implications foreconomic cost of large-scale stock enhancement programs.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

Page 9: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, June 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1206akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:37:35 PM]

Juvenile blue king crabs (1.8mm carapace width) on gillnetand screen bottom of nurseryrearing bin. Photo courtesy ofJim Swingle.

June 2012

Juvenile blue king crabs shipped fromAlutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery forresearchAs part of the AKCRRAB program, the Alutiiq PrideShellfish Hatchery shipped 1,500 juvenile blue king crabsto the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center BehavioralEcology Lab in Newport, Oregon, and to the University ofAlaska Fairbanks, Juneau Center. Since AKCRRAB beganin 2006, many thousands of juvenile red and blue kingcrabs in multiple batches have been shipped tolaboratories to advance juvenile king crab biologicalresearch. A major benefit of developing techniques forlarge-scale hatchery culture is the ability to supplyscientists with research animals. This reduces the need tocollect from wild king crab populations and allows forexperiments that would not be possible otherwise. As aresult of successful hatchery production, much is being learned about king crab early lifehistory including behavior, habitat requirements, and growth physiology. The juvenile blueking crabs shipped this spring will be used to evaluate growth rates and develop taggingtechniques.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

Page 10: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, May 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1205akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:37:45 PM]

Blue king crab glaucothoe(about 1.8 mm carapacewidth) on artificial seaweed.Photo by Ben Daly.

May 2012

Researchers improve blue king crabculture technology and achieve highsurvival at Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatcheryAKCRRAB biologists had great success culturing blue kingcrab at the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery this spring.They investigated the effects of microalgae dietsupplementation on survival and larval health. A diet oflive Thalassiosira weissflogii microalgae and enrichedArtemia yielded an exceptional survival of 80% fromhatching to the glaucothoe stage and 53% from hatchingto the first juvenile stage (C1). These survival rates are thehighest to date for either red or blue king crab since thebeginning of the AKCRRAB project.

Before this year, large-scale culture of blue king crab hasbeen less successful than for red king crabs. High rates of mortality were attributed tosuboptimal hatchery rearing conditions. Though the life histories of red and blue king crabare similar, different culturing protocols may be required to achieve similar productionsuccess. For example, high survival of red king crab has been achieved without microalgaein the diet, but microalgae may be essential for blue king crab larvae. However, the use ofmicroalgae in large-scale, flow-through systems poses logistical challenges because of theirsmall cell size, which allows the algae to be quickly flushed out of the tanks. To solve thisproblem, AKCRRAB biologists Jim Swingle and Ben Daly developed a semi-static rearingtechnique where microalgae is retained in tanks to optimize larval exposure.

The juvenile blue king crabs cultured at the hatchery will be used in experiments to betterunderstand the biology of early juvenile king crabs at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries ScienceCenter Behavioral Ecology Lab in Newport, Oregon, the NOAA Kodiak Fisheries ResearchCenter, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau Center.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

Page 11: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, April 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1204akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:38:03 PM]

Hatching tank for ovigerous(egg-bearing) female blue kingcrabs. Photo courtesy of JimSwingle.

April 2012

Blue king crab larvae hatch at AlutiiqPride Shellfish HatcheryOvigerous female blue king crabs from St. Matthew Island,Alaska, are hatching larvae at the Alutiiq Pride ShellfishHatchery in Seward. Significant hatching (more than 1,000larvae per female per day) from three of the 14 femalesbegan in late March, while the remaining females hadstaggered hatch dates starting in early April. Typically,hatching occurs over several weeks in patterns similar to abell-shaped curve. Few larvae (less than 100 per femaleper day) hatch over the first several days and quicklyincrease in numbers to about 10,000 larvae per female perday during peak hatch, and then steadily decrease.Females are hatching approximately 40,000-80,000 larvaeper female total, which is similar to St. Matthew blue king crabs in previous years.Biologists are culturing the larvae to improve blue king crab hatchery rearing technologyand to determine effects of improved diet on larval survival, health, and rearing duration.The adult blue king crabs were collected in the St. Matthew Island commercial fishery byScott Campbell Jr. of the F/V Seabrooke, as an in-kind contribution to AKCRRAB.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

Page 12: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, March 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1203akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:38:15 PM]

A juvenile red king crab, 3.5mm carapace width, wastethered at 10 m depth insouthern Lynn Canal nearJuneau. Photo by GinnyEckert.

March 2012

Researchers assess predation ofhatchery-cultured juvenile red kingcrabs in the wildBen Daly did field experiments with hatchery-culturedjuvenile red king crabs as part of his Ph.D. research at theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks. Daly and UCLAundergraduate researcher Timothy White tethered small(1.8–4.0 mm carapace width) crabs for 24-hour trialsduring July and September 2011 in southern Lynn Canalnear Juneau, and used scuba and underwater videocameras to assess survival and predator interactions. Dalyidentified hermit crabs, Alaskan ronquil, arctic shanny,northern rock sole, and kelp greenling as predators andfound that survival did not vary by body size ordeployment month. Time until mortal attack was longerfor larger crabs compared to small crabs and most mortalattacks occurred in daylight hours.

Predation will likely be the greatest ecological hurdle for hatchery-cultured juveniles in thewild; however, information on predation of red king crab juveniles in nearshore habitatsremains scarce. This research is an important first step in developing release strategies andsuggests predation pressure should be considered when selecting release time and location.

The link below shows video of a hermit crab and greenling preying on a tethered juvenilered king crab.

http://youtu.be/JG8z9Vk78d4

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

Page 13: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, February 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1202akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:38:36 PM]

Courtney Lyons at anexperimental mesocosm usedin predation trials. Photocourtesy of Courtney Lyons.

February 2012

Blue king crab behavior and habitatpreference in the presence ofcompetitors and predatorsCourtney Lyons conducted laboratory experiments withjuvenile blue king crabs, in partnership with the AlaskaFisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Behavioral EcologyProgram in Newport, Oregon, for her Ph.D. research at theUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks. She used age-0 crabs,approximately 2.5–5.0 mm carapace width, raised at theAlutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery and the Alaska FisheriesScience Center Kodiak Laboratory. She observed habitatpreference by blue and red king crabs that were providedwith sand, shell hash, sand with algal mimic, or shell hashwith algal mimic, at two temperatures, 2°C and 8°C. Sheexamined interactions between red and blue king crabs byrunning the experiment with each species alone and with the two together. Finally, Lyonslooked at the efficacy of Pacific halibut predation on juvenile blue king crabs and red kingcrabs, individually and as mixed assemblages of both species. Analyses of her data andvideo behavior are under way. This research will help scientists understand possiblemechanisms contributing to the lack of recovery of the depleted Pribilof Island blue kingcrab stocks, and how these mechanisms might alter in response to climate change.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members.

Page 14: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, January 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1201akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:40:27 PM]

Jennifer Stoutamore collectsblue king crab geneticsamples. Courtesy of J.Stoutamore.

January 2012

Researchers study blue king crabgenetic population structureFisheries graduate student Jennifer Stoutamore (Universityof Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau Center) and advisor Dr. DavidTallmon (University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau) arestudying genetic population structure of blue king crabthroughout its range in Alaskan and Russian waters in aproject funded by Alaska Sea Grant. They collectedsamples from southeast Alaska, the Pribilof Islands, St.Matthew Island, Little Diomede, and Russia (the westernBering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Chaunskaya Bay) and arecurrently examining genetic markers to identify relatednessof the different populations.

Population genetics can be used to improve management strategies or aid in recoveryefforts by identifying genetically distinct populations. For example, determining the size andlocation of distinct populations, how much exchange occurs among populations, and howmany individuals contribute genetically to different regions are critical for assessingpotential consequences of stock enhancement. Acquiring this knowledge will aid regulatoryagencies and policy-makers in evaluating the need and consequences for rehabilitation ofdepressed blue king crab stocks through large-scale hatchery releases.

News Flash is edited by Ben Daly. AKCRRAB is a research and rehabilitation project sponsored bythe Alaska Sea Grant College Program, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, NOAAFisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery, community groups, and industry members. Formore information go to http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/initiatives/king_crab/general.

Page 15: News Flash | AKCRRAB | research | Alaska Sea Grant

AKCRRAB News Flash, January 2012 | Alaska Sea Grant

http://seagrant.uaf.edu/research/projects/kingcrab/newsflash/1201akcrrab.html[2/20/2013 12:40:27 PM]

To receive AKCRRAB News Flash by email, contact Sue Keller, (907) 474-6703.

Header photo of king crab glaucothoe by Celeste Leroux.