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HOOD CANAL — Volunteers are needed to help collect Dungeness crab larvae in Hood Canal, Strait of Juan de Fuca and Admiralty Inlet – as well as other parts of Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands.
The effort is part of a project coordinated by the Suquamish tribe’s shellfish biologist, Paul Williams, and Leif Rasmuson, the Skokomish tribe’s shellfish management biologist.
The focus of the project is the declining Dungeness crab population in Hood Canal.
The amount of crab caught in the area has fallen from 698,000 pounds in 2005 to just 168,000 pounds in 2008.
No one knows why.
To begin to try to find an answer, the tribes want to know if the crab found in Hood Canal originated there, or if they came from the Pacific
Coast or other parts of Puget Sound.
“Dungeness crab megalops larvae drift for up to six months before they settle to the shore and transform to juvenile crabs,” said Williams.
“In their last larval stage, they are called megalops, due to their huge eyes.
“Megalops in Hood Canal may drift in from as far away as the Pacific Ocean, or they may come from within Hood Canal.
“The size of the individuals in each wave of settlement and the settlement timing in each location will give us clues to their source.
“Finding their source is key to unlocking the cause of the decline in adult crabs and will guide management actions for their recovery.”
Williams said people living near a beach or dock on Hood Canal or along the Strait, San Juan Islands and Admiralty Inlet are ideally located to conduct this research.
“Megalops larvae cling to anything in their path, so collection is easy,” he said.
“We supply a complete collection kit,” and detailed training will be provided.
“Volunteers are needed to deploy them from docks, floats or beaches and check them at least once a week.
“Just hang the collector (a mesh bag with three Tuffy kitchen scrubbers) from a dock or buoy.
“Once a week, rinse the megalops off into a collander, bag them, label the bag and freeze it. We will pick them up and measure them later.”
While this study is looking at natural fluctuation of larvae coming from outside Puget Sound, Williams added, a number of factors may contribute to the decline of Dungeness crab in the canal — including overfishing, low dissolved oxygen and disease.
Said Rasmuson: “With any hope, this project will allow managers to gain insight into the early life stages of this commercially important species and help to determine how fluid populations are throughout the state.”
To volunteer as a baby crab collector and for more information, click on
http://megalops.org/ or email pwilliams@suquamish.nsn.us.
The project is supported by Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, King County, Suquamish tribe, Skokomish tribe, state Department of Fish and Wildlife, Point No Point Treaty Council, Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Puget Sound Restoration Fund and Hood Canal Coordinating Council.
