Rosenberg Institute Fall Seminar Series @ EOS Center

Mediation of trophic cascades by anti-predatory responses

Gabriel Ng, Smithsonian Institution

I am studying the efficacy of stock enhancement in the blue swimmer crab fisheries within the Philippines. Stock enhancement, the process by which hatchery-reared juveniles are released to augment the natural populations, can be a potentially useful strategy in managing a declining fishery. However, stock enhancement is only feasible if the populations are limited by recruitment and not through other factors such as predation, habitat degradation, or food limitation. In collaboration with the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology and the Philippines Association of Crab Producers Inc., we are conducting mark-recapture studies on hatchery-reared juvenile blue swimmer crabs to track their survival and performance in the wild. The results from this study will quantify the effectiveness of stock enhancement and provide insights on optimal release strategies to promote survival of the juveniles.