Dataset Information

Effect of pot design on the catch efficiency of snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea fishery.

ABSTRACT: The snow crab (Chioneocetes opilio) fishery in the Barents Sea is carried out by large offshore vessels, as the fishing grounds are located far from shore and the gear must be transported back and forth over long distances. Therefore, fishers use stackable conical pots that allow large numbers of pots to be carried on deck for each trip. One of the drawbacks of using stackable pots is that the entrance is at the vertex of the conical pot, which fishers claim does not provide the desired fishing efficiency. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine whether a different pot design would improve the catch efficiency of snow crabs. We investigated the efficiency of a new type of pot called the moon pot, which provides continuous increased bait odour intensity as snow crabs make their way towards the entrance of the pot. This alteration was expected to increase catch efficiency compared to that of the conical pots used by the fleet today. However, experimental fishing results showed that the modified pots had significantly lower catch efficiency than the standard conical pots, as only ~66% of the number of crabs caught by the conical pots were caught in the moon pots. The main reason for this reduced catch efficiency likely was the initial steepness of the moon pot, which may have made it difficult for crabs to reach the pot entrance. These results demonstrated that pot design can dramatically affect catch efficiency of snow crabs.

SUBMITTER: Olsen L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6638949 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Effect of pot design on the catch efficiency of snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea fishery.

Olsen Leonore L Herrmann Bent B Grimaldo Eduardo E Sistiaga Manu M

PloS one 20190718 7

The snow crab (Chioneocetes opilio) fishery in the Barents Sea is carried out by large offshore vessels, as the fishing grounds are located far from shore and the gear must be transported back and forth over long distances. Therefore, fishers use stackable conical pots that allow large numbers of pots to be carried on deck for each trip. One of the drawbacks of using stackable pots is that the entrance is at the vertex of the conical pot, which fishers claim does not provide the desired fishing ...[more]

PMID: 31318950

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Project description:Data obtained using three different types of sampling gear is compared and combined to assess the size composition and density of a non-indigenous snow crab population Chionoecetes opilio in the previously free of alien species Kara Sea benthos. The Sigsbee trawl has small mesh and catches even recently settled crabs. The large bottom trawl is able to catch large crabs, but does not retain younger crabs, due to its large mesh. Video sampling allows the observation of larger crabs, although some smaller crabs can also be spotted. The combined use of such gear could provide full scope data of the existing size groups in a population. The density of the crabs was calculated from the video footage. The highest figures were in Blagopoluchiya Bay at 0.87 crabs/m2, where the settlement seems to be reaching its first peak of population growth after the introduction. High density in the Kara Gates Strait at 0.55 crabs/m2, could be due to the close proximity of the Barents Sea from where the crabs can enter by both larval dispersal and active adult migration. All size groups have been present in most sampled areas, which suggest successful settlement and growth of crabs over a number of years. Again, this was not the case in Blagopoluchiya Bay with high density of small crabs (<30 mm CW), which confirms its recent population growth. Male to female ratio was strikingly different between the bays of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago and west of the Yamal Peninsula (0.8 and 3.8 respectively). Seventy five ovigerous females were caught in 2016, which confirms the presence of a reproducing population in the Kara Sea. The spatial structure of the snow crab population in the Kara Sea is still in the process of formation. The presented data indicates that this process may lead to a complex system, which is based on local recruitment and transport of larvae from the Barents Sea and across the western Kara shelf; formation of nursery grounds; active migration of adults and their concentration in the areas of the shelf with appropriate feeding conditions.

Dataset Information

Effect of pot design on the catch efficiency of snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea fishery.

Publications

Effect of pot design on the catch efficiency of snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio) in the Barents Sea fishery.

Similar Datasets

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