Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

supply requires prediction of the salient features of such a spill.
Restricted food supply can stop growth in marine organisms (Edwards
and Huebner, 1977), and retarded growth rates in rock lobster, Jasus
lalandii, correlate with the biomass of its principal prey (Newman and
Pollock, 1974). Because juvenile lobsters prey upon a restricted size
range of small prey, their growth rates are more heavily influenced by the
availability of smaller prey than are the growth rates of the adults
(Pollock, 1979; Griffiths and Seiderer, 1980). Juvenile king crab are
probably also more heavily influenced by the availability of small prey.
For juvenile king crab a restriction in food supply can be reasonably
expected to retard growth if alternative food is not available or taken.
Following the AMOCO CADIZ spill retarded growth was reported for flatfish
in one of the heavily contaminated estuaries and edible crab catches were
depressed for a year (Maurin, 1981). The expectation that an oil spill in
the nearshore zone would retard growth of juvneile king crab through
depression of its infaunal prey appears reasonable.
The larger juvenile crab (CL >40 mm) occur on soft bottoms at 45 to 70
m in a relatively small area off Port Moller and could potentially be
impacted by physical disturbance, platform discharges, and oil spills.
Physical disturbance of the bottom occurs around platforms and is
localized. In the vicinity of platforms the effects of disturbance on
benthic infauna are usually not clearly separable from effects due to
sediment burdens of contaminants (Addy et al., 1978; Dicks and Hartley,
1982). Near platforms in the North Sea oil field in 70 m, Addy et al.
(1978) did observe decreased densities of polychaete worms so that the
reduction of a food item important to the diet of juvenile crabs could
make the vicinity of platforms energetically unrewarding. On the other
hand, Wolfson et al (1979) report increases in the density of
tube-dwelling polychaetes in the vicinity of an oil platform in
California. In a shallow Texas bay in which high turbidity appeared to
enhance sedimentation of hydrocarbons, Armstrong et al (1979) found the
density of benthic infauna depressed in the vicinity of the outfall of an
oil separator platform. Depression of infaunal density appeared to occur
where the sedimentary concentration of naphthalenes exceeded 2 ppm. The
magnitude of exploration, development and production in the relatively
small area off Port Moller in which the juvenile crabs concentrate needs
to be predicted before one can assess whether disturbance and production
discharges constitute a significant potential impact.
A potential benefit that king crab could derive from oil platforms is
an increase in habitat. The smallest juvenile blue king crab (CL