Summer was a busy time for the PCRG, between the larval crab monitoring season and the bi-annual all-member (virtual) meeting.
August 4th Meeting Highlights
Over 50 members participated in the virtual summer meeting
The Coordinating Committee provided updates on various business items:
The PCRG Charter will be released shortly with a membership information form → this will establish a member directory
A data sharing agreement (for data users/collectors) is in preparation
Several individuals provided updates on research and projects. Two groups published documents that may be of interest to other members:
Swinomish released its intertidal monitoring protocol for juvenile crab
Pacific Shellfish Institute released a middle school curriculum for light trap data
Dr. Paul Dinnel shared insights from his 1980’s Dungeness Crab research in Puget Sound. A large dataset from monitoring during that period is available upon request!
The group brainstormed which critical Dungeness crab questions might be addressed by laboratory experiments in breakout groups and a new working group will work to prioritize questions and determine feasibility.
The group also brainstormed potential funding sources (grants, foundations, and other creative means) to fund both different types of research and the operations of the PCRG. A document listing these sources will be created and provided as a resource for all members, accompanying the Research Guide document that is already in development.
Larval Crab Monitoring
Seventeen light traps were deployed this season across the Washington and Canadian Salish Sea, and the Washington outer coast. Six brand new stations were established this year and are piloting the protocol. Many of the returning sites have caught record high numbers of megalopae this season and we look forward to pooling the data at the end of the season to look at patterns across the region.
Follow the study and see what we are catching @PNWCrab
Looking Ahead
Wednesday, August 25th 10:30-4pm
Ventless Trap Workshop - this meeting seeks to launch a working group interested in developing and implementing a sublegal crab survey, with the goal to better forecast harvest abundances. This workshop will explore study design, identify funding mechanisms and study participants. Please RSVP by contacting pnwcrab@gmail.com
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2-4pm
PCSGA/NSA Conference Workshop - we will be hosting a special two hour session at the conference to discuss Dungeness crab fishery resiliency and sustainability. Register here. Speakers include:
Katy Bland (University of Washington) - "Active participation diversification during a climate shock: A case study of the 2015/16 California Dungeness crab fishery delay"
Linus Stoltz (Oregon State University) -"Exploration of nearshore oxygen dynamics through collaboration with the Oregon Dungeness crab fishing fleet" https://fishresearch.net/
Dr. Brett Dumbauld (US Department of Agriculture) - "A Comparison of Juvenile Dungeness Crab Habitat Provided By Contemporary Oyster Aquaculture vs. Historical Native Oysters in Willapa Bay, WA"
~
Finally, we’d like to honor the contribution, support and encouragement of Lorraine Loomis to the PCRG. We are greatly saddened by her passing on August 10th. To read more about her incredible life, see this article published by the Seattle Times.
Kommentare