Fisheries-related variations in the fecundity of the southern king crab in Patagonia

VARISCO, MARTÍN; COLOMBO, JULIA; DI SALVATORE, PABLO; BALZI, PAMELA; BOVCON, NELSON; LOVRICH, GUSTAVO; VINUESA, JULIO

FISHERIES RESEARCH

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2019 vol. 218 p. 105 - 111

0165-7836

The southern king crab (SKC) Lithodes santolla has supported a profitable fishery in the San Jorge Gulf (SJG) andadjacent area, Argentina, since 2004. This fishery allows landings only of males larger than 110 mm carapacelength. Since large-male-only harvests have had a detrimental effect on the egg production of other king crabpopulations, here, we compared the SKC fecundity before the start of the industrial fishery (1994?1996) withthat of the fully harvested population (2014?2018), and analyzed the variation in fecundity related to fisherypolicies, to areas with different levels of fishing effort, and to different times of the fishing season. During2014?2016, SKC fecundity was 25% lower than that during the pre-fishery period (1994?1996). However, fecundity in 2017?2018 was 11% lower than that during the pre-fishery period. Results also revealed that fecundity was greater in coastal areas (where an artisanal fleet operates) than in offshore areas (where the industrial fleet operates) and that it was similar throughout the fishing season. We concluded that: 1) SKCfecundity decreased after 10 years of fishing, 2) fishing during the mating period affected SKC fecundity, and 3)there is no significant egg loss during the fishing season. Recent changes in SKC fishery management, includingthe mandatory use of escape rings and the implementation of a closure during mating, seem to have had apositive effect on SKC fecundity.