Biology and fishery of horsehair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii in the eastern Okhotsk Sea
https://doi.org/10.26428/1606-9919-2025-205-696-709
EDN: LQFIMS
Abstract
The horsehair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii fishery develops actively in the eastern Okhotsk Sea since 2017. The main commercial aggregations of this species are located around the 40 m isobath in the Kamchatka-Kuril fishing subzone. Significant fluctuations in its abundance and distribution density are noted. The maximum density of the crab aggregations up to 4,300 ind./km² was observed in 2024, when the stock was assessed in 3.8 . 106 ind. The fishery is regulated taking into account seasonal dynamics of molting and distribution of functional groups. The results of the study allow to optimize the resource management strategy and to provide sustainable exploitation of the horsehair crab population at southeastern Kamchatka.
Keywords
horsehair crab,
West Kamchatka shelf,
Kamchatka-Kuril fishing subzone,
population status,
commercial stock,
distribution density,
catch per vessel-day
Supporting agencies: The author is grateful to colleagues from KamchatNIRO and TINRO who assisted her in collecting materials for the study.
About the Author
O. G. Mikhaylova
Kamchatka branch of VNIRO (KamchatNIRO)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Oksana G. Mikhaylova, Ph.D., leading researcher
18, Naberezhnaya Str., Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 683000
References
1. Abaev, A.D. and Yusupov, R.R., First reports on catches of horsehair crab (Erimacrus isenbeckii Brandt) in the Zabiyaka Bay, northern Okhotsk Sea, Izv. Tikhookean. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr., 2011, vol. 164, pp. 177–179.
2. Artemenkov, D.V., Ivanov, P.Yu., Morozov, T.B., and Sologub, D.O., New data on biology and captures of Erimacrus isenbeckii (Decapoda: Cheiragonidae) in the Shelikhov Bay (northern Okhotsk Sea), Izv. Tikhookean. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr., 2023, vol. 203, no. 3, pp. 519–528. doi 10.26428/1606-9919-2023-203-519-528. EDN: CLBLWI.
3. Bizikov, V.A. and Polyakov, A.V., Geographic information system “KARTMASTER”: new opportunities and prospects for fisheries research, in Tezisy dokl. mat-lov otrasl. semin. «Matematicheskoye modelirovaniye i informatsionnyye tekhnologii v issledovaniyakh bioresursov Mirovogo okeana» (Proc. report mat-fishing otrasl semin. «Mathematical modeling and information technology in the study of biological resources of the oceans»), Vladivostok: TINRO-Tsentr, 2004, pp. 89–91.
4. Ivanov, P.Yu., The Tanner crab off southwestern Kamchatka: fishery, stock condition and specifics of assessment, Russ. J. Mar. Biol., 2024, vol. 50, no. 7, pp. 410–422. doi 10.1134/S1063074024700378.
5. Ivanov, P.Y., The current status of the red king crab (Paralithodes camtschaticus) stock and fishery off Western Kamchatka, Russ. J. Mar. Biol., 2020, vol. 46, no. 7, pp. 507–523. doi 10.1134/S1063074020070032.
6. Nizyaev, S.A., Bukin, S.D., Klitin, A.K., Perveeva, E.R., Abramova, E.V., and Krutchenko, A.A., Posobiye po izucheniyu promyslovykh rakoobraznykh dal’nevostochnykh morei Rossii (Handbook for the Study of Commercial Crustaceans in the Far Eastern Seas of Russia), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: SakhNIRO, 2006.
7. Pereladov, M.V., Some aspects of the behavior of the hairy crab in natural conditions and in the area of placement of fishing gear, in Pribrezhnyye gidrobiologicheskiye issledovaniya (Coastal hydrobiological studies), Moscow: VNIRO, 1999, pp. 155–164.
8. Puchnina, E.V., Hair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii on west Kamchatka: specifics of biology, stock condition and commercial prospects, Issled. Vodn. Biol. Resur. Kamchatki Sev.-Zapadn. Chasti Tikhogo Okeana, 2016, vol. 40, pp. 50–56. doi 10.15853/2072-8212.2016.40.50-56.
9. Sidorov, L.K., On the influence of water temperature on the distribution of crabs in the area of northern Kuril islands, Tr. Vses. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr., 2019, vol. 175, pp. 20–35.
10. Sidorov, L.K., The perspective of the crab commercial fishery on the coastal water of the Kuril Islands: red king crab, horsehair crab and Bairdi snow crab (the Sea of Okhotsk), Tr. Vses. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr., 2016, vol. 161, pp. 38–51.
11. Slizkin, A.G., Bukin, S.D., and Slizkin, A.A., Korean horsehair crab (Erimacrus isenbeckii) from the northkurilkamchatka shelf: biology, distribution, abundance, Izv. Tikhookean. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr., 2001, vol. 128, pp. 554–570.
12. Slizkin, A.G. and Safronov, S.G., Promyslovye kraby prikamchatskikh vod (Commercial Crabs of Kamchatkan Coastal Waters), Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Severnaya Patsifika, 2000.
13. Vasilets, P.M., FMS analyst — computer program for processing data from Russian Fishery Monitoring System, 2015. doi 10.13140/RG.2.1.5186.0962.
Review
For citations:
Mikhaylova O.G. Biology and fishery of horsehair crab Erimacrus isenbeckii in the eastern Okhotsk Sea. Izvestiya TINRO. 2025;205(4):696-709. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26428/1606-9919-2025-205-696-709. EDN: LQFIMS
Views:
11
Email this article 