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Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

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Isl<strong>and</strong>s (Powell <strong>and</strong> Nickerson 1965; Weber 1967). During the year of<br />

sampling near Unalaska, several groups of king crabs 29-69 mm were not<br />

sampled continuously <strong>and</strong> were interpreted as being transient.<br />

4.4 Post-larval Distribution <strong>and</strong> Abundance<br />

The distribution of red king crabs age YOY to three years was generally<br />

restricted to the coastal domain of the North Aleutian Shelf <strong>and</strong> Bristol<br />

Bay, the area l<strong>and</strong>ward of the 50 m isobath. This area had the lowest<br />

bottom salinities (11°C<br />

by September) <strong>and</strong> the largest grained sediments sampled in the study<br />

area.<br />

YOY crabs occurred from waters north of Izembek Lagoon (station IL430),<br />

northeasterly along the coast <strong>and</strong> into Togiak Bay in the north. Densities<br />

were greatest in the Port Heiden <strong>and</strong> Kvichak Bay areas. These<br />

results agree with settlement areas as projected from previous larval<br />

king crab studies. Haynes (1974) reported that under the generally<br />

cyclonic (counter-clockwise) water movement in the southeastern Bering<br />

Sea, larvae released in the Black Hills-Port Moller area were carried<br />

northeastward along the <strong>Alaska</strong> Peninsula toward the head of Bristol Bay.<br />

The pattern of larval distribution described for 1983 showed concentrations<br />

of newly released larvae off Port Moller in nearshore (

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