Theme D: Developing optimal release strategies
38. OPTIMIZING RELEASE STRATEGIES FOR BLUE CRABS IN CHESAPEAKE BAY
Eric Johnson , Anson Hines, Paige Roberts, Margaret Kramer, Robert Aguilar, Heather Soulen, and Michael Goodison
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA
johnsoneg@si.edu
The blue crab is both economically and ecologically important along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. In Chesapeake Bay, the blue crab supports both a thriving recreational fishery and the region’s most lucrative commercial fishery. Despite significant management efforts to reduce fishing pressure and improve habitat quality; however, blue crab populations declined sharply in the early 1990’s and remained at an all-time low for more than a decade. Both the magnitude of the decline and the persistence at low levels were unprecedented for the Chesapeake blue crab stock and in 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the fishery as a federal disaster. In response, management agencies adopted coordinated conservation efforts have focused on protection for mature females. While abundance has rebounded in response to both conservation efforts and favorable environmental conditions, current evidence also indicates that in many regions of Chesapeake Bay nursery habitats are still well below carrying capacity. Thus, targeted restoration strategies such as restocking, may still be of considerable promise as complements to traditional fishery management approaches.
The feasibility of stock enhancement depends upon the ability of hatchery-reared juveniles to survive and grow in the natural environment. A critical step toward optimizing enhancement is to identify release strategies that maximize the performance of hatchery-reared individuals released into the field. Key considerations for optimizing the success of enhancement are (1) components of preparation and release (e.g., size-at-release, pre-release conditioning of hatchery-reared animals), (2) stocking variables (e.g., stocking density, season-of-release), (3) site selection and coordination (e.g., release locations, fishery exploitation). Herein, we present our analysis of a series comprehensive, integrated experimental and modeling approaches designed to predict the effectiveness of enhancement under varying release scenarios. Our rigorous comprehensive evaluation of release strategies is a key component of a responsible approach to fisheries enhancement and identifies release strategies that maximize the effectiveness of blue crab restocking efforts in Chesapeake Bay.
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