Abstract
Male-only fishing for spiny king crab (Paralithodes brevipes) has likely impaired the reproductive success of the stock by decreasing the availability of sperm and (or) male mates. The reproductive success of females in fished populations in 2003 and 2004 was estimated based on female reproductive potential determined in laboratory experiments. Some females had no or partial clutches and showed a low fertilization rate. As female size decreased, the fertilization rate decreased and their clutches became small. These results suggest that mating was impaired by sperm limitation, because risk of sperm limitation increases throughout the reproductive season in fished populations, and smaller females tend to mate later in the reproductive season than larger females of this species. We compared the reproductive success between these years with different fishing pressures. In 2003, the total fishing pressure was high, therefore causing decreases in availability of sperm and males. This likely resulted in the reproductive success of females being lower in 2003 than in 2004.
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