1st Edition

King Crabs of the World Biology and Fisheries Management

Edited By Bradley G. Stevens Copyright 2014
    636 Pages 19 Color & 125 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    With species existing in all subpolar seas, king crabs are one of the most valuable seafoods. Major fluctuations in their abundance have stimulated a flurry of research and a rapid expansion of the scientific literature in the last decade. King Crabs of the World: Biology and Fisheries Management consolidates extensive knowledge on the biology, systematics, anatomy, life history, and fisheries of king crabs and presents it in a single volume. This book is the first comprehensive scientific reference devoted to the biology and fisheries of king crabs.

    The first part of the book describes king crabs and their place in the world, covering geographic distribution, depth and temperature ranges, and maps of known habitats. Chapters examine phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary history and phylogeography, internal and external anatomy of king crabs, and the history of North Pacific fisheries. There is also a chapter that presents a comprehensive overview of diseases and other anomalies of king crabs. The second part of the book describes the life history and biology of various king crab species, including embryonic development and environmental factors, the development and biology of larvae, the ecology and biology of juvenile stages, reproductive strategies of fished species, and the growth and feeding of king crabs and their ecological impacts.

    The third part of the book discusses human and environmental interactions with king crabs through fisheries, management, and ecosystems. Topics include the impacts of fishing—bycatch, handling, and discard mortality—king crab aquaculture and stock enhancement, and king crabs from various regions such as Southern Hemisphere waters, the Barents Sea, and Alaska. A chapter synthesizing various aspects of king crab biology provides an ecosystem-scale perspective and the final chapter presents the author’s outlook on the future of king crab research and populations.

    King Crabs of the World: Species and Distributions
    Bradley G. Stevens and Gustavo A. Lovrich
    Systematics of King Crabs
    Patsy A. McLaughlin
    Phylogeography of Red King Crab: Implications for Management and Stock Enhancement
    William Stewart Grant, Daria A. Zelenina, and Nikolai S. Mugue
    Anatomy of King Crabs
    William E. Donaldson and Susie Byersdorfer
    History of King Crab Fisheries with Special Reference to the North Pacific Ocean: Development, Maturity, and Senescence
    Robert S. Otto
    Diseases of King Crabs and Other Anomalies
    J. Frank Morado, Christie A. Shavey, Tatyana Ryazanova, and Vanessa C. White
    Embryo Development and Hatching of King Crabs
    Bradley G. Stevens
    Development and Biology of King Crab Larvae
    Bradley G. Stevens
    Biology and Ecology of Juvenile King Crabs
    Bradley G. Stevens
    Reproductive Ecology of Commercially Important Lithodid Crabs
    Joel Webb
    Growth, Molting, and Feeding of King Crabs
    Bradley G. Stevens and Stephen C. Jewett
    Impacts of Fishing on King Crabs: Bycatch, Injuries, and Mortality
    Bradley G. Stevens
    Aquaculture and Stock Enhancement of King Crabs
    Bradley G. Stevens, Anya (Epelbaum) Dunham, Jiro Kittaka, Nikolina Kovatcheva, Sara Persselin, and Gro I. van der Meeren
    Southern King Crabs
    Gustavo A. Lovrich and Federico Tapella
    Red King Crab in the Barents Sea
    Jan Sundet
    Red King Crab in Russia: Populations, Fisheries, and Symbionts
    Alexander G. Dvoretsky and Vladimir G. Dvoretsky
    King Crab Stock Assessments in Alaska
    Jie Zheng and Gordon H. Kruse
    Modeling Larval Advection and Spatial Population Structure in King Crabs: Interactions among Life-History Requirements, Extrinsic Forcing, and Source–Sink Dynamics
    Timothy Loher
    Future of King Crabs
    Bradley G. Stevens
    Index

    Biography

    Dr. Bradley G. Stevens received his Ph.D. in fisheries science from the University of Washington in 1982. From 1984 to 2006, he worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Kodiak, Alaska, where he studied ecology and reproductive biology of commercial crab species, including king, Tanner, and snow crabs. In Alaska, he pioneered the use of submersibles and ROVs for the study of crab ecology and behavior, and initiated king crab aquaculture studies after a sabbatical in Japan. He is currently a professor of marine science at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where he serves as distinguished research scientist for the NOAA-funded Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center. Dr. Stevens’ research interests are the ecology and early life history of crustaceans and molluscs, with an emphasis on reproductive biology and postlarval processes.

    "The narratives of the chapters are well written, and overall the text is well edited. Those interested in king crab biology and fisheries should be pleased. Summing Up: Recommended."
    S. R. Fegley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill