Date of Award

Spring 1984

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Ocean & Earth Sciences

Program/Concentration

Oceanography

Committee Director

Phillip R. Mundy

Committee Member

John R. McConaugha

Committee Member

Ray S. Birdsong

Committee Member

Paul Anninos

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.O35S55

Abstract

The timing of a fishery is a quantitative expression of the composite behaviors of harvesters, markets, animals and climatic events. A quantitative description of the timing of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fisheries of Virginia was established using the time density model of Mundy (1979). Blue crab catch statistics supplied by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Virginia Marine Resource Commission were divided into two fisheries based on gear type; the summer and winter fisheries. Average performance curves were then constructed using average cumulative proportions of catch. Annual yield estimates were also made and timing in five individual water bodies examined.

Performance curves for total, summer and winter harvests could serve as a regulatory tool for blue crab harvest management in the Chesapeake Bay by utilizing available data. The adequacy of present harvest data for regulatory needs is discussed.

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DOI

10.25777/34ct-m089

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