The 2014 eastern Bering Sea continental shelf bottom trawl survey: Results for commercial crab species
Abstract
The eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey has been conducted annually since 1975 by the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service. The purpose of this survey is to collect data on the distribution and abundance of crab, groundfish, and other benthic resources in the eastern Bering Sea. These data are used to estimate population abundances for the management of commercially important species in the region. This document includes the time series results from 1975 to the present including the 2014 survey data. It is noted that the time series in this document was corrected for errors made between 2010 and 2013 for mature female Tanner crab biomass in the west (see page 16). In 2014, 376 standard stations were sampled on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. The 2014 biomass estimates reported in metric tons (t) and pounds (lb) with 95% confidence intervals (± 1.96 SE) for legal-sized males of each commercial crab stock in the eastern Bering Sea were as follows:
Bristol Bay District red king crab
(Paralithodes camtschaticus)
35,867
(13,620)
79,071,324
(30,026,849)
Pribilof District red king crab
11,433
(18,242)
25,205,651
(40,216,137)
Pribilof District blue king crab
(P. platypus)
233
(320)
514,496
(705,150)
St. Matthew Is. Section blue king crab
3,568
(2,472)
7,866,869
(5,450,241)
Southern Tanner crab
(Chionoecetes bairdi), east 166° W
30,366
(10,146)
66,945,079
(22,368,533)
Southern Tanner crab,
east 166° W, ≥ 5.5 inches
12,555
(5,661)
27,679,098
(12,479,455)
Southern Tanner crab,
west 166° W
24,859
(6,016)
54,804,673
(13,263,677)
Southern Tanner crab,
west 166° W, ≥ 5.0 inches
11,766
(3,233)
25,940,248
(7,127,839)
Snow crab, all Districts (C. opilio)
151,454
(48,661)
333,894,926
(107,278,882)
Snow crab, all Districts
≥ 4.0 inches
79,510
(34,882)
175,286,439
(76,899,933)
*Biomass estimates in pounds were derived using area swept estimates based on raw crab lengths converted
to weight with a known length-weight regression. A direct conversion of the biomass estimate in tons will
not match the value presented here.
