This dataset contains detailed crab data collected from the 2012 NOAA/NMFS/AFSC/RACE crab-groundfish bottom trawl survey of the Chukchi Sea. 71 survey stations were successfully completed during the bottom trawl survey. The survey area extended north and east from the Bering Strait to Barrow Canyon, bounded to the west by the U.S.-Russia Maritime Boundary and east to the 10-m bathymetry limit along the Alaska coastline. Demersal populations were sampled by trawling at stations centered within 55.56 x 55.56 km (30 x 30 nautical miles) grid cells covering the survey area. 100% of the catch is sorted for commercially important crab species. Crabs are sorted by species and sex, and a sample is measured to the nearest millimeter to provide a size-frequency distribution (see note under use constraints for analyzing catches where crab were subsampled for measurement). Carapace width is measured for Tanner crabs, and carapace length is measured for king and hair crabs.

These are data from a laboratory experiment in which wild caught male Tanner crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) from Stephens Passage, SE Alaska were held to evaluate crab survival while harboring Hematodinium sp., a parasitic dinoflagellate and causative agent of Bitter Crab Syndrome (BCS). In October 2014, Tanner crab in various condition states were targeted and collected. Targeted crab condition states were visually healthy, visually BCS positive or questionably BCS positive. Crab were held from capture until death (ongoing) and crab were tested regularly for parasite presence using two methods, blood smears and a PCR assay to detect the presence of parasite DNA. The data include crab morphometrics, disease status by diagnostic method, and crab survival duration.

This data is from an experiment designed to test the viability of using hatchery reared crab to supplement wild stocks and to determine the optimal density for future releases. Crab were released by divers into 5 x 5 m quadrats marked with ground line at three densities: 25, 50, and 75 m-2. Researchers monitored the crab density inside the plots, in order to estimate survival, as well as outside the plots, to estimate crab movement. In addition, they determined predator densities and performed tethering experiments on red king crab to see if predator density or predation risk differed among the density treatments.