Developing a collaborative Dungeness crab larval monitoring network in the Salish Sea to provide long-term, fishery-relevant data

Abstract Many natural resources are managed without essential, biologically relevant data. Fisheries are particularly susceptible to this reality and, thus, are vulnerable to environmental changes and disturbances, with both human livelihoods and the health of ecological systems at stake. Here, we explore how the Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group (PCRG) employs a collaborative, stakeholder-driven approach to generate the information needed to inform a data-poor, co-managed fishery, using the example of Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister in the northeastern Pacific’s Salish Sea. We focus on the PCRG larval crab monitoring network as a multifaceted case study, which unites tribal, state, and federal governments, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and local communities working to produce the first standardized continuous data set on Dungeness crab larval dynamics in the region. Highlighting the types of biological data collected, including spatial and temporal patterns of larval flux and larval size, we explore the application of novel data to fisheries management, as well as the network’s contribution to a diversity of educational opportunities and ability to leverage new research projects and collaborations. The success of PCRG’s larval crab monitoring network ultimately highlights the effectiveness of a cooperative, network-based approach in addressing fisheries management challenges and offers a viable model for managing data-poor systems worldwide.