Santa Monica Seafood continues support of Alaska king crab research
November 20, 2012
907-474-7449
11/20/12
Santa Monica Seafood, the largest distributor of seafood in the American Southwest, has donated $10,000 to support the Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program, also known as AKCRRAB.
Santa Monica Seafood began their support of AKCRRAB in 2010, and has donated $10,000 each year to the research effort.
"We send our congratulations to the team at the Alaska King Crab Research Rehabilitation and Biology Program on the excellent progress made so far,” said Logan Kock, Vice President of Strategic Purchasing & Responsible Sourcing for Santa Monica Seafood. “We're excited to continue to be a part of their research efforts and we look forward to a bright future for Alaska red and blue king crab and for the people who depend on this important marine resource.”
AKCRRAB began in 2005 as a public-private partnership to develop the science and technology needed to culture wild king crab in a hatchery, and test the feasibility of hatcheries as a tool to rebuild low numbers of red and blue king crab in waters around Kodiak Island and the Pribilof Islands.
“We are delighted that Santa Monica Seafood continues to support the AKCRRAB program,” said Dave Christie, director of Alaska Sea Grant, one of groups that sponsor AKCRRAB research, and co-chair of the AKCRRAB steering committee.
“Santa Monica Seafood support has been instrumental in the success of the king crab hatchery research program,” said Christie. “This year, researchers had one of the most successful hatching and rearing seasons to date for both red and blue king crab species.”
AKCRRAB is a partnership between Alaska Sea Grant, Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association, Central Bering Sea Fishermen´s Association, United Fishermen´s Marketing Association, NOAA Fisheries, the Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery and Chugach Regional Resources Commission, and the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.
AKCRRAB scientists at the Alutiiq Pride Hatchery in Seward, Alaska, have steadily applied what they´ve learned about nutritional needs, water quality and habitat to improve larval survival and hatchery productivity.
“Restoration of the Kodiak red king crab and Pribilof Islands blue king crab fisheries is important to local communities that used to depend on them,” said Christie.
Scientists in Seward, as well as Juneau, Kodiak, and Newport, Oregon, are using the juvenile crab produced at the hatchery in experiments to better understand how to raise crab in a hatchery and to further understand how such hatchery-born crabs would fare in the wild. Researchers also are conducting genetic studies to differentiate between hatchery-born crab and wild crab.
Understanding the details of hatching and raising king crab in a hatchery is considered by commercial fishermen and researchers as a key step toward providing state fishery managers with the information they need to decide whether hatchery enhancement can help rebuild depleted king crab stocks.
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: David Christie, Alaska Sea Grant director, 907-474-7949, david.christie@alaska.edu
ON THE WEB:
Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program (AKCRRAB)
Santa Monica Seafood