Catches in abandoned snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) pots in the Barents Sea

Odd-Børre Humborstad,Lasse Krøger Eliassen,Sten Ivar Siikavuopio,Svein Løkkeborg,Olafur Arnar Ingolfsson,Ann Merete Hjelset

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113001

Odd-Børre Humborstad, Lasse Krøger Eliassen + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113001

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Abstract

During a 2018 retrieval cruise for abandoned snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) pots in the Barents Sea, approximately 8600 pots abandoned 1.5 years earlier were recovered. Forty-three percent of a subsample of 1000 pots contained snow crabs, with an average of three crabs per pot. Most of the crabs were alive (~98%) and dominated by large males. Pinch injuries and limb loss were common and tended to decline with increasing crab size. Reflex testing showed that the crabs were vital (i.e. the crabs moved their legs, chelipeds and maxillipeds when stimulated), which was supported by a relatively high meat content. However, energy reserves in the digestive glands (hepatopancreas reserves) were low, indicating overall energy deficiencies. Our results indicate considerable unaccounted mortality due to self-baiting, continued catch and cannibalism. The findings demonstrate that snow crab pots which are lost or abandoned in the Barents Sea fishery maintain huge potential for ghost-fishing impacts.

Highlights

Abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a worldwide environmental and socioeconomic problem that is of great concern for fisheries sustainability (Macfadyen et al, 2009; Gilman, 2015; Richardson et al, 2019)
The findings demonstrate that snow crab pots which are lost or abandoned in the Barents Sea fishery maintain huge potential for ghostfishing impacts
The data obtained from the gear retrieval program examined in this study provided a unique opportunity to investigate these ghostfishing parameters

Summary

Introduction

Lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a worldwide environmental and socioeconomic problem that is of great concern for fisheries sustainability (Macfadyen et al, 2009; Gilman, 2015; Richardson et al, 2019). The impacts of ALDFG include continued catch of target and non-target species (ghost fishing), alterations to the benthic environment, intro duction of synthetic material into the marine food web, hazards to navigation and safety at sea and financial costs associated with gear loss and retrieval (Macfadyen et al, 2009). The snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) population in the Barents Sea became viable for commercial fishing relatively recently. Snow crab was first observed at the Goose Bank in the Russian part of the Barents Sea in

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