Alaskan king crab enhancement: advances in aquaculture and king crab ecology Ginny L. Eckert University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau Center School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
AKCRRAB Alaska King Crab Research Rehabilitation and Biology Steering CommitteeScience TeamGraduate Students David Christie Ben Daly Ginny Eckert Celeste Leroux Jeff Hetrick Jodi Pirtle Bob Foy Scott Vulstek Heather McCartyJim SwingleMiranda Westphal Chris MierzeiekAl StonerJenni Stoutamore Roger PainterDavid Tallmon Jeff StephanDoug Pengilly Gale Vick
Early Enhancement Activities in Alaska 1992 International King Crab Rehabilitation and Enhancement Symposium 1990s-2000s Extensive research by Dr. Brad Stevens in Kodiak and Japan 2000s Continued research by NMFS Kodiak 2006 Alaska Crab Stock Enhancement and Rehabilitation Workshop Small scale experiment setup S. Persselin and B. Stevens
Stock Enhancement Programs American lobster (Sastry, 1976 Tlusty et al., 2005) European Lobster (Bannister and Addison, 1998; Beal et al., 2002) Blue crab (Zmora et al., 2005) Swimming crab (Secor et al. 2002)
Stock Enhancement Programs Hanasaki king crab - Japan (Nakanishi and Naryu, 1981; Stevens 2006) Southern king crab - Chile & Argentina (Lovrich and Tapella, 2006; Paschke et al., 2006) Red king crab - Russia (Kovatcheva et al. 2006)
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Background – Red King Crab Fishery
Background – Blue King Crab Fishery
Recruitment limitation Climate-driven fluctuations Overfishing - threshold effects Regime shift - Predation Why have king crabs not recovered in the absence of fishing?
Glaucothoe Zoea 3 Zoea 4 King Crab Life Cycle Female with extruded eggs Mating Crab Instar 1 Zoea 1 Zoea 2
Can king crabs be cultured at large scale in Alaska? Culturing at various densities, diets, temperatures, water conditions Is king crab rehabilitation feasible?
Anchorage Ovigerous Female Collection
Hatchery Setup Alutiiq Pride Shellfish HatcherySeward Marine Center
Hatchery Setup Alutiiq Pride Shellfish HatcherySeward Marine Center
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2007 Densities per L Diets - Algae Live/Paste Algae Diets - Artemia Frozen/Fresh GSL Artemia Diets - Additive
2007 Production Experiments
ConcernCourse of Action Temperature fluctuationImprove water system Water qualityInstall carbon filters Excessive aerationDecrease aeration Nutritional deprivationEnrich Artemia Changes post-2007
Densities per L25 & 50 per L Diets - Algae Live/Paste Algae Live/No Algae Diets - Artemia Frozen/Fresh GSL Artemia Enriched/Not Enriched SFB Artemia, Diets - Additive With/without EDTA
2008 Production Experiments
Densities per L25 & 50 per L44 & 50 per L Diets - Algae Live/Paste Algae Live/No Algae Live/No Algae Diets - Artemia Frozen/Fresh GSL Artemia Enriched/Not Enriched SFB Artemia, Enriched SFB Artemia Diets - Additive With/without EDTA
2009 Production Experiments
2010 Production Experiments Stage Survival
2010 Production Experiments Lipid Index Stage
2010 Production Experiments Fouling by bacteria Development time Percent Fouling Days
Juvenile Production
Can king crab larvae be cultured at large scale in Alaska? Is king crab rehabilitation feasible? YES!
Can king crab larvae be cultured at large scale in Alaska? Production of juveniles increasingly successful Algae not necessary in diet Artemia enrichment critical Adequate water quality critical Increasing water temperature speeds development Is king crab rehabilitation feasible?
Blue King Crab
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Issues: Cannibalism & optimize growth Vary diet, density & substrate
Daly et al Aquaculture C1-C3 Diet Density Substrate Diet*Density Diet Density Substrate Diet Density Substrate Diet*Density
Daly et al Aquaculture C3-C6 Density Substrate
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Issues: Cannibalism, color deficiency Vary diet & density
Survival Daly et al. in prep Survival
Color
Color: Hue Daly et al. in prep Hue Index
Color: Brightness Daly et al. in prep Brightness Index
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Issues: Cannibalism Size grading -- diet & density
Survival Daly et al. in prep Survival Size Grading
Survival Daly et al. in prep Survival Size Grading
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs Diet supplements: increases nutrition
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs Diet supplements: increases nutrition Stocking density: decreases cannibalism
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs Diet supplements: increases nutrition Stocking density: decreases cannibalism Increasing growth: Diet supplements: increases nutrition
Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs Diet supplements: increases nutrition Stocking density: decreases cannibalism Increasing growth: Diet supplements: increases nutrition Density dependent growth: moderate density has best growth
Competency of Hatchery Juveniles Lab Predation Role of habitat Sand Hydroids Hydroids/Macroalgae Hydroid Mimics Pirtle et al. in prep
Crabs Consumed by Cod p < Habitat SandComplex Mimic Hydroid Mimic Complex Biogenic Hydroid Mean Crabs Consumed * Pirtle et al. in prep
Crab Stage Age-0Age-1 Crab survival (%) No Structure Structure Control 0 Structure p < Stage p = 0.07 Crab Field Survival Pirtle et al. in prep
Westphal et al. in prep
Ongoing Studies Physical tags: elastomer, microwire, dactyl clipping Genetic structure of wild stocks Genetic mark to identify hatchery animals in wild Genetic risk - conserve genetic diversity Release strategies - size, behavior
One-year old juvenile red king crab Nine-month old juvenile blue king crab
Thanks Alaska Sea Grant College Program AKCRRAB Science Team & Steering Committee NOAA Aquaculture & Saltonstall Kennedy Programs NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery Alaska Department of Fish and Game Industry & Community Partners: CBSFA, UFA, UFMA, GOACC, APICDA, NSEDC … and more...