1st Edition
King Crabs of the World Biology and Fisheries Management
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