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Research Document - 2001/158

Evaluation of a Box Crab (Lopholithodes foraminatus) Trap Test in British Columbia

By Z. Zhang

Abstract

A survey was carried out to test the effectiveness of five trap designs (large circular trap, modified Dungeness trap, prawn trap, Dorian top-loading trap, and Ladner top-loading trap) in catching box crabs in the northern Strait of Georgia in April 2001. Altogether 102 sets were made and 1,724 box crabs were caught with 1,096 males and 628 females. The modified Dungeness trap appears to be most suitable for future surveys based on an overall evaluation on the box crab catch rate, convenience of trap deployment, and the amount of by-catch. The paper also presents some new biological features on box crabs revealed by this survey, such as size and sex composition and distribution, relationship between carapace length and weight, relative abundance, shell conditions, relative number of egg-bearing females for different size groups. The paper also proposes recommendations as to how we should proceed in the development of this potential fishery.

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