This dataset contains data from a series of experiments that determined the upper thermal tolerance of early benthic stage red and blue king crabs. Experiments included determining the temperature at which 50% of crabs died after 24 hour exposure, determining the effect of temperature on feeding ration, and the effects of temperature on long-term growth and mortality.

This data set is the results of a laboratory experiment. Juvenile red king crab and Tanner crab were reared in individual containers for nearly 200 days in flowing control (pH 8.0), pH 7.8, and pH 7.5 seawater at ambient temperatures (range 4.4-11.9 C). Survival, growth, and morphology were measured throughout the experiment. At the end of the experiment, calcium concentration was measured in each crab and the dry mass and condition index of each crab were determined.

This data set is from a series of laboratory experiments examining the interactions between red and blue king crabs and habitat. We examined how density and predator presence affect habitat choice by red and blue king crabs. Further experiments determined how temperature and habitat affect predation by year-1 red king crab on year-0 blue king crab. Finally, long-term interaction experiments examined how habitat and density affected growth, survival, and intra-guild interactions between red and blue king crab.

Rearing crustaceans communally for aquaculture, stock enhancement or research often results in high rates of cannibalism and low yields. One potential strategy to reduce loss from cannibalism is to rear crustaceans in individual cells. As small holding cell size can result in decreased growth or increased mortality, it is essential to identify the optimal holding cell size, both for mass culturing efforts and for experimental design purposes. In this study, we reared juvenile red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, (3.67 to 8.30 mm carapace length) in 20, 40, and 77 mm diameter holding cells and monitored growth and survival over a 274-day experiment.

This is data from a laboratory experiment in which blue king crab juveniles were held at three different pHs (ambient, pH 7.8, and pH 7.5) for a year. Growth, survival, and morphology were recorded.

This dataset contains detailed crab data collected from the 2012 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl survey of the Chukchi Sea. 71 survey stations were successfully completed during the bottom trawl survey. The survey area extended north and east from the Bering Strait to Barrow Canyon, bounded to the west by the U.S.-Russia Maritime Boundary and east to the 10-m bathymetry limit along the Alaska coastline. Demersal populations were sampled by trawling at stations centered within 55.56 x 55.56 km (30 x 30 nautical miles) grid cells covering the survey area. 100% of the catch is sorted for commercially important crab species. Crabs are sorted by species and sex, and a sample is measured to the nearest millimeter to provide a size-frequency distribution (see note under use constraints for analyzing catches where crab were subsampled for measurement). Carapace width is measured for Tanner crabs, and carapace length is measured for king and hair crabs.

The Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division (RACE) of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) conducts bottom trawl surveys to monitor the condition of the demersal fish and crab stocks of Alaska. These data include catch per unit effort for each commercially important crab species at a standard set of stations in the eastern Bering Sea. This is a subset of the main database. Excluded are certain non standard tows and other types of data collected other than species id, species size category, species catch per unit effort (number per square nautical mile), water temperature and depth.

Juvenile red and blue king crabs (Paralithodes camtschaticus and P. platypus) were exposed to three pH levels: ambient (pH 8.1), pH 7.8, and pH 7.5 for three weeks. Oxygen consumption and feeding ration were determined immediately after exposure to treatment water and after three weeks exposure. Growth can be calculated from the wet mass observations.

This database contains information about shrimp surveys conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands dating back to 1953. The main tables used for analysis are the shrimp.catch, shrimp.length, shrimp.cruise, and shrimp.haul tables. Join columns provide linkages between the tables.The shrimp.catch table contains catch weights and counts by haul. Not all catch weights have associated counts and in the earlier years of the time series the catch of all species was not recorded so care must be taken that a non-recorded catch is not interpretated as a zero catch. The shrimp.length table contains the length measurements of the shrimp and other taxa taken during the smallmesh survey.The Shrimp.cruise table contains information on each of the individual surveys called cruises included in the smallmesh database from the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and Aleutian Islands. The definition of a cruise has not been consistent over the years. Generally, a cruise is conducted by a single vessel in a single geographic area. For certain cruises however, multiple vessels participated in hauls ranging from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska. The records from some cruises contain as few as one haul while several consist of over 500 hauls. The Shrimp.haul table contains the basic information gathered for each haul including location, date and time, and gear information. Some of the hauls in the data set are from surveys not necessarily targeting shrimp, mainly the hauls in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

This dataset contains detailed crab data collected from the annual NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl survey of the eastern Bering Sea continental shelf. The standard survey area, surveyed each year since 1975, encompasses a major portion of the eastern Bering Sea shelf between the 20 meter and 200 meter isobaths and from the Alaska Peninsula to the north of St. Matthew Island. The study area is divided into a grid with cell sizes of 20 x 20 nautical miles (37 x 37 kilometers). Sampling takes place within each 20 x 20 nautical mile grid cell. In areas surrounding St. Matthew (1983-present) and the Pribilof Islands (1981-present), grid corners were also sampled to better assess king crab concentrations. In 1975, tows were 1 hour in duration; from 1976 to present, each tow is one-half hour in duration, averaging 1.54 nautical miles (2.86 kilometers) - exact tow duration and distance fished for each haul can be found in RACEBASE.HAUL. 100% of the catch is sorted for red, blue, and golden king crab, bairdi Tanner, snow crab, hybrid Tanner, and hair crab. Crabs are sorted by species and sex, and a sample is measured to the nearest millimeter to provide a size-frequency distribution (see note under use constraints for analyzing catches where crab were subsampled for measurement). Carapace width is measured for Tanner crabs, and carapace length is measured for king and hair crabs.