1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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)

5. 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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7. Background – Red King Crab Fishery

8. Background – Blue King Crab Fishery

9. Recruitment limitation Climate-driven fluctuations Overfishing - threshold effects Regime shift - Predation Why have king crabs not recovered in the absence of fishing?

10. Glaucothoe Zoea 3 Zoea 4 King Crab Life Cycle Female with extruded eggs Mating Crab Instar 1 Zoea 1 Zoea 2

11. Can king crabs be cultured at large scale in Alaska? 2007-2010 Culturing at various densities, diets, temperatures, water conditions Is king crab rehabilitation feasible?

12. Anchorage Ovigerous Female Collection

14. Hatchery Setup Alutiiq Pride Shellfish HatcherySeward Marine Center

15. Hatchery Setup Alutiiq Pride Shellfish HatcherySeward Marine Center

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20. 2007 Densities 25 - 194 per L Diets - Algae Live/Paste Algae Diets - Artemia Frozen/Fresh GSL Artemia Diets - Additive

21. 2007 Production Experiments

22. ConcernCourse of Action Temperature fluctuationImprove water system Water qualityInstall carbon filters Excessive aerationDecrease aeration Nutritional deprivationEnrich Artemia Changes post-2007

23. 20072008 Densities 25 - 194 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

25. 2008 Production Experiments

27. 200720082009 Densities 25 - 194 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

28. 2009 Production Experiments

29. 2010 Production Experiments Stage Survival

30. 2010 Production Experiments Lipid Index Stage

31. 2010 Production Experiments Fouling by bacteria Development time Percent Fouling Days

32. Juvenile Production

33. Can king crab larvae be cultured at large scale in Alaska? Is king crab rehabilitation feasible? YES!

34. Can king crab larvae be cultured at large scale in Alaska? Production of juveniles increasingly successful 2007-2010 Algae not necessary in diet Artemia enrichment critical Adequate water quality critical Increasing water temperature speeds development Is king crab rehabilitation feasible?

35. Blue King Crab

36. Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Issues: Cannibalism & optimize growth Vary diet, density & substrate

37. Daly et al. 2009 Aquaculture C1-C3 Diet Density Substrate Diet*Density Diet Density Substrate Diet Density Substrate Diet*Density

38. Daly et al. 2009 Aquaculture C3-C6 Density Substrate

39. Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Issues: Cannibalism, color deficiency Vary diet & density

40. Survival Daly et al. in prep Survival

41. Color

42. Color: Hue Daly et al. in prep Hue Index

43. Color: Brightness Daly et al. in prep Brightness Index

44. Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Issues: Cannibalism Size grading -- diet & density

45. Survival Daly et al. in prep Survival Size Grading

46. Survival Daly et al. in prep Survival Size Grading

47. Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions

48. Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs

49. Hatchery Culture: Juvenile Nursery Increasing survival: Complex substrates: reduces antagonistic interactions Size grading: reduces cannibalism on smaller crabs Diet supplements: increases nutrition

50. 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

51. 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

52. 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

53. Competency of Hatchery Juveniles Lab Predation Role of habitat Sand Hydroids Hydroids/Macroalgae Hydroid Mimics Pirtle et al. in prep

54. Crabs Consumed by Cod p < 0.0001 Habitat SandComplex Mimic Hydroid Mimic Complex Biogenic Hydroid Mean Crabs Consumed 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 * Pirtle et al. in prep

57. Crab Stage Age-0Age-1 Crab survival (%) 0 20 40 60 80 100 No Structure Structure Control 0 Structure p < 0.0001 Stage p = 0.07 Crab Field Survival Pirtle et al. in prep

59. Westphal et al. in prep

61. 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

62. One-year old juvenile red king crab Nine-month old juvenile blue king crab

63. 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...