Evaluation and Comparison of Three Independent Methods for Estimating Red King Crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) Biomass in Southeast Alaska

This research was designed to ground-truth current stock assessment methods for red king crab in Southeast Alaska and promote collaborative research with the fishing industry.
Specifically, we compared three independent estimates of legal red king crab biomass using depletion, mark/recapture, and Catch-Survey Analysis methods. All field work for
the depletion and mark/recapture estimates was done on commercial fishing vessels. The Catch-Survey Analysis is the method currently used by ADFG and
combines fishery-independent survey data along with commercial catch data.
The current dataset includes effort (e.g., lat/lon, depth, date) and catch (# of legal crab caught) data from 8 areas in Southeast Alaska to estimate
legal red king crab biomass using a depletion estimator and to tag legal crab for the mark portion of a mark/recapture estimate These datasets were archived as part of the North Pacific Research Board legacy project recovery effort undertaken by Axiom Data Science and NPRB in 2025. The goal of the recovery effort was to assess the NPRB-funded data projects from 2002 to 2014 and archive final data packages that were ready for publication to increase long-term accessibility and discoverability. Data packages were archived as is given limited funding and resources.

本研究旨在为阿拉斯加东南部红王蟹（red king crab）的现行种群评估方法提供实地基准验证，并推动与渔业行业的协同科研合作。具体而言，本研究采用耗竭法（depletion）、标记-重捕法（mark/recapture）与捕获-调查分析法（Catch-Survey Analysis）三种独立方法，对合法捕捞规格红王蟹的生物量开展估算并进行对比。耗竭法与标记-重捕法的全部野外作业均在商业捕捞渔船上完成。捕获-调查分析法是阿拉斯加渔猎部（Alaska Department of Fish and Game, ADFG）当前使用的评估方法，该方法整合了渔业独立调查数据与商业捕捞数据。本数据集包含阿拉斯加东南部8个研究区域的捕捞努力量（effort）数据（如经纬度、作业深度、作业日期等）以及合法捕捞红王蟹的渔获量（捕获合法蟹的数量）数据，用于通过耗竭估算器（depletion estimator）估算合法红王蟹生物量，并为标记-重捕法的标记环节完成合法红王蟹的标记工作。上述数据集作为北太平洋研究委员会（North Pacific Research Board, NPRB）遗留项目归档恢复工作的一部分，由Axiom Data Science与NPRB于2025年完成归档。此次归档恢复工作的目标为评估2002年至2014年间由NPRB资助的科研项目，并将具备发表条件的最终数据包进行归档，以提升数据的长期可获取性与可发现性。鉴于资金与资源有限，本次归档直接采用原始数据包格式进行留存。