Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

8.5.4 Other Brachyuran Larvae
Larvae of Erimacrus isenbeckii are not abundant over large areas of
the St. George Basin, and highest densities were found just north of
Unimak Island (Fig. 5.1).
An oil mishap over the Basin proper would not
threaten the species, but oil transported along the North Aleutian Shelf
from Unimak Pass could impact areas of high E. isenbeckii abundance.
Although
the commercial fishery (very small at present) is centered around
the Pribilof Islands, few larvae were found in that area making it difficult
to equate potential loss of larvae with impact on a fishery. Ongoing
OCSEAP research should help clarify Erimacrus susceptibility to
oil around the Pribilof Islands.
Larvae of Hyas spp., Oregonia spp. and of the family Pinnotheridae
are widely distributed over the St. George Basin.
Any reduction in benthic
populations through mortality of larvae might have some ecological
repercussion (no fisheries for these groups).--However, as noted for
Tanner crab, the area affected by even a large spill might be only
10-15% of the Basin and therefore of little threat to populations of
these crabs as a whole. Again, if oil from a spill is dispersed along
the 100 m isobath (roughly the middle front) for about 200 km then a
greater proportion of the larval population might be killed since
densities are high in this region (Section 5.0).
8.5.5 Shrimp Larvae
Larvae of Pandalus borealis and species of hippolytid and crangonid
shrimp are ubiquitously distributed over the St. George Basin (Section
6.0). There is presently no commercial fishery for any shrimp species
827