Abstract
Assessments of reproductive potential and spawning history of marine and estuarine crabs are limited due to issues with determination of age and spawning history. The spawning stock of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus in Chesapeake Bay was heavily fished and declined in the 1990s. Management actions were implemented between 2001 and 2008 to reduce spawning stock exploitation and trigger recovery. Whether these actions impacted the demography of female spawners is unknown. We assessed demographics of overwintering mature female crabs in 1992-1996 and 2020-2022 by classifying them as first-year (imminent primiparous) or second-year (primiparous and multiparous) spawners based on presence of mature nemertean worms (Carcinonemertes carcinophila) in their gill chambers. We also investigated organismal and environmental predictors of second-year spawners. We provide the first annual estimates of the proportion of multi-year spawners at the population level. Management actions reduced exploitation rates by 41% after 2008, and the proportion of second-year spawners was greater than in the 1990s. Nonetheless, exploitation rate in a given year did not predict proportion of second-year spawners in the following year. Second-year spawners tended to be smaller females, or females with a high gonadosomatic index or longevity indicators (i.e. fouling by barnacles). High proportions of large, highly fecund, overwintering first-year spawners in the 2020s support the need for enhanced protection of females in spring to allow these females to spawn. Finally, nemertean worms are a useful, easily implemented tool to determine spawning history and age-specific reproductive potential of crabs that undergo a terminal molt prior to spawning.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.