Crabwise - Volume 2, Number 1 - July 1997

Editor's note

Well, here it is, the second edition of Crabwise ...! As you might have guessed, and until our publishing skills and capacities are fine-tuned, this newsletter will be produced on an irregular basis.

The 1997 snow crab fishery season is well on its way (almost over) in some parts of the southern Gulf (Areas 12, 18, E and F) and soon opening in all others. By now, the Offshore Crab Section is fully staffed and prepared to meet the 1997 fishing season. As always, each spring introduces new faces to our group (contracts, casuals and students) hired to meet the increased work load of the summer.

In this edition, you will find a summary of the stock assessment process, a summary table of the 1996 snow crab fishery statistics and a text on soft crab protection.

Summary of the Assessment Process

The assessment process, or if you prefer, the act of analyzing and interpreting data to ultimately produce a scientific document on the stock status, may seem long and cumbersome to some of you. It certainly feels like it to me at times! There is however an honorable reason behind this way of operating. As an old statistics teacher of mine used to say, it is fairly easy to generate numbers, it is a whole different story to interpret them properly!  Therefore, it is important to have some way to ensure that the final product, the scientific document, reflects the reality of the stock status out there rather than the reality of a small bunch of persons. It is partly to overcome this pitfall that the Regional review process was introduced a couple of years ago. The main feature of this regional review is that it encourages collaboration among scientists, the fishing industry and other related parties. Regional review also encourages us to take a more complete view of the marine ecosystem.

The regional review can be divided into four steps. The first step is the formation of assessment teams. The next step is to conduct extensive consultations with the industry to ensure that your views are incorporated into the assessments; afterall, it is your industry. Third step, draft assessment documents are produced and organized to provide narratives of the following:

• Description of fisheries
• Management target
• Fishery data
• Research data
• Estimation of stock parameters
• Assessment results
• Ecological considerations, including the environment
• Future prospects
• Management considerations
• Research recommendations

The final step is the peer review. The objectives of peer review are: to examine the scientific approach of the stock assessments; to identify weaknesses that need to be corrected; to make research recommendations; and to prepare a regional roll-up of the status of marine stocks. We have tried to make the peer review process open and effective. Peer review is provided by external referees including representatives from universities, other DFO regions, and most importantly members of the fishing industry. We also welcome any comments or suggestions by any concerned client of this fishery for improving the usefulness of this report.

Offshore Crab Section 1997

The structure of the Offshore Crab Section has not changed much in 1997. Mikio Moriyasu is still the research scientist in charge of the section: Elmer Wade is resposible for data analysis and modelling, as well as overseeing the data management team; Marcel Hébert supervises the Gulf trawl survey and assessment; Pierre DeGrâce manages the Gulf and eastern Cape Breton observer projects; Bobby Campbell continues to oversee the Eastern Cape Breton trawl survey and sampling programs; and Michel Biron is responsible for fishery research, the Eastern Cape Breton assessment, and client communication. Titles might have changed a little, but functions are basically the same as in 1996. However, a more than welcome new addition to the group is Rita Gautreau who is our new data management coordinator. She supervises Ginette Robinson and Diane Aubé, who both work as data entry assistants.

Conor Meagher (a 2^nd year University of Waterloo. student in computer science) and Eric Hachey (newly graduated, Univ. de Moncton, also computer science) are going to work with Elmer as assistant analysts in data processing. George Hunt will help Bobby over the summer with the at-sea sampling in eastern Cape Breton. Alain Hébert and Stephen Albert are back for another season to help Marcel with the trawl survey, moreover, Alain has inherited new duties as an in-season monitoring assistant. Last, but not  least, Lorraine LeBlanc is also back as our administrative assistant untill the end of September.

Soft-shelled crab

As crabs grow, they must periodically change their shell (a process known as molting) which usualy occurs in the spring. After molting, the crab has a soft, clean, pinkish shell with a hardness that measures less than 68 on a durometer, hence its name, soft-shelled crab.

Soft-shelled crab yield very little meat when processed, therefore, they present no interest in this respect. In order to reduce waste of this resource, DFO authorizes fishers to put soft-shelled crab back in the water. This should be done quickly and carefully, otherwise poor handling may result in high mortality. Soft-shelled crabs should be protected for the following reasons:

• Some soft-shelled crab may be of good commercial quality the following season and may be recruited to the fishery. High soft-shelled crab mortality could have a direct impact on the quantity of crab available for the following season.
• Soft-shelled crab, which cannot reproduce while soft, could however participate in mating the next spring, before the fishing season.

Cooperation by fishers is esential. Each fisher is reponsible for protecting soft-shelled crab and should pay particular attention when handling these crabs. "Fish responsibly!" If you are catching abnormal amounts of soft-shelled crab in your traps in a given position, it is in your best interest to move your traps to another location. This will minimize the catch of soft-shelled crab and protect the resource. When you catch soft-shelled crab in your traps, it is important to put it back in the water as quickly as possible to minimize mortality. A soft-shelled crab is already in a weakened state and cannot bear additional stress. Soft-shelled crab must be returned to the water gently, do not throw or hit the soft-shelled crab on a hard surface. Avoid shovelling the soft-shelled crab back into the water. Better yet, place soft-shelled crab on a slide or let it go back in the water by holding the carapace and supporting the abdomen. Never grab it by the legs.

What's new?

Both the Southern Gulf and Eastern Cape Breton snow crab stock status reports for 1996 have been completed and are now available to the general public.

As of June 12, the extended experimental trawl survey in Eastern Cape Breton was completed. Twenty-six sites in Area 22 and 62 sites in both Area 23 and in Area 24 have been covered. Bobby Campbell and his team are now getting ready for the opening of the fisheries.

Since 1993, snow crab has been tagged in different zones of the southern Gulf. Again this year, some 400 mature crab have been tagged in the exploratory zone E, near the dumping site. Remember, if you happen to come across a tagged crab, please remove the tag, mark down the location (latitude and longitude), depth and date of capture, and send us this information with the tag. You do not need to measure the crab because we are tagging only terminal molt crab that are no longer molting. These recaptures are used to understand (or at least try to) the migration pattern of these animals. Your help is always greatly appreciated!

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Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Snow Crab Section
343 Université Ave / P.O. Box 5030
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
E1C 9B6
Fax: (506) 851-3062
E-mail: crabwise@glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca