Research Document 1998/137
Status of Newfoundland and Labrador snow crab in 1997
By E.G. Dawe, D.W. Kulka, H.J. Drew, P.C. Beck, and P.J. Veith
Abstract
Data on catch rate, size (carapace width, CW) and molt status (chela allometry) from various sources were used to infer resource status. Data from 1995 to 1997 fall bottom trawl surveys were particularly useful. These surveys showed that legal-sized males were broadly distributed throughout much of the survey area but were absent north of Div. 2J, as well as on the deep slope of the continental shelf north of 48°N and across most of the shallow southern Grand Bank. Fall bottom trawl surveys indicated a substantial commercial biomass for 1997 throughout Div. 2J3KL, comparable to that of the previous year. Continued strong recruitment is indicated for 1998 but longer-term prospects are uncertain. A trap survey in White Bay (NAFO Div. 3K) showed that males were segregated by size in inshore strata, with small males predominantly in the shallowest strata. A great increase in trap survey catch rates of small crabs in White Bay during 1994-97 suggests that there may be considerable local variation in recruitment dynamics.
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