Biological Monitoring of puget sound dungeness crab

Led by Jenna Ziogas, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe

Dungeness crab is a high value resource for coastal communities due to the species’ cultural, ecological, and economic importance. Within the Washington State’s portion of the Salish Sea, the Dungeness crab fishery provides one of the most reliable, accessible and valuable harvest opportunities for tribal and non-tribal citizens. Despite the importance of this vital marine resource, tribal and state comanagers currently lack the resources and data needed to understand spatial and temporal changes in adult crab population structure needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the current management strategy in assuring resource conservation.
In this project the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, with support from the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, will collect data on crab size, sex and shell condition to assess whether currently applied conservation measures are appropriately set for the Eastern Strait crab management area. Specifically the team will conduct a year-long survey using modified commercial crab traps to capture multiple size classes of male and female adult crab and assess their shell condition. This information will update our understanding on the timing of adult crab molt and how it relates to environmental conditions such as depth, temperature and dissolved oxygen. The data collected will be used to determine if the current seasonal fishing closure is timed properly to preserve mating potential and reduce harvest pressure during this vulnerable period. This project will bring together experts through the Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group to develop effective survey methods to assess the molt cycle throughout the year. Tribal fishers will play a key role by sharing their knowledge to help design the survey and support fieldwork. An important goal of the work is to improve information sharing and Dungeness crab management.