Sublegal, post-molt, male king crab graspers are capable of reproducing and may suffice as brood stock in the male-only king crab fishery. Observations in tanks revealed that the younger males bred successfully with an average of five females.

A stochastic growth model is presented to represent the growth in carapace length of the Alaska king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica Tilesius). Two submodels are combined to yield the growth model: (1) growth increment as a function of premolt length and molting history and (2) a probabilistic model of frequency of molting by age, premolt length, and molting history. The results of a computer simulation of the growth model are presented. Frequency of ages at various lengths and frequency of lengths at each age are given. Frequency of molting during early life was found to greatly influence growth rate. Key words: king crab, growth, length, stochastic model growth increment, molting, growth model

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An Alaskan Commercial Fishery for tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, has recently developed. Only males are legally taken. No size limit exists and the objective of the study was to determine size at sexual maturity as a biological basis for maintaining male brood stocks in adequate numbers. Morphometric measurements, reproductive tract weights, and size of precopulatory males indicate that 50% of the males are mature at about 110-mm carapace width. Using commercial catch size frequency data, the proportion of immature males in the commercial catch was interpolated at less than 3%.

No abstract