A webinar is scheduled for late May to share with the public steps in the process to develop a new benchmark blue crab assessment, intended to better understand population dynamics and determine the fishery’s stock status.
The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries is holding the online meeting 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 28, via WebEx. Register online to join the webinar. There will be a listening station in the division’s office in Morehead City as well.
A 2018 benchmark stock assessment indicates the state’s blue crab stock is overfished, which means that the population size is too small, and overfishing is occurring, which means that the removal rate is too high.
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There was a 2023 stock assessment update but division staff and external peer reviewers identified concerns with model specifications and results, so the assessment is not being used for management,” officials said. “However, available data from Division sampling and monitoring programs indicate a continued decline of the Blue Crab stock. The Division has started the process of developing a new benchmark stock assessment.”
During the webinar, division scientists will review the stock assessment process, including recent and future changes, and methods, including how data were selected for use, and report on progress in analyzing both dependent and independent data for the fishery used in the assessment model.
Fishery-dependent data are collected directly from the commercial and recreational fisheries and may include fishing effort, such as the number of fishing trips that harvested blue crab, and biological information such as lengths and sex of the crab and amount of landings and discards.
Fishery-independent data are collected from at-sea surveys, where scientists from the division and from partner organizations gather data on fish stock abundance, biology and the ecosystem.
Officials said there will be an opportunity to provide feedback on the stock assessment progress and process.
