Today NOAA Fisheries released a Draft Technical Memorandum containing the 2019 Eastern Bering Sea Continental Shelf Trawl Survey Results for Commercial Crab Species.
During this annual research survey, scientists collect data on the distribution and abundance of crab and groundfish resources. Key crab species include red king crab, blue king crab, southern Tanner crab, snow crab and hair crab. Survey data are used to provide a fishery-independent estimates of population abundance and biological data for the management of commercially important fish and crab stocks.
The eastern Bering Sea bottom trawl survey has been conducted by scientists in the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, since the early 1970s.