Crabs and Community: A Co-Created Assessment of Early Dungeness Crab (Metacarcinus magister) Life Stages in Tsawout First Nation’s Waters

Dungeness crab occupy three distinct habitats over their complex life cycle as they progress from larval to juvenile to adult stages. To understand Dungeness abundance then, attention needs to be paid to each life stage and its
unique interactions with its environment. In the Salish Sea, studies addressing early Dungeness crab life stages, such as the final larval (i.e., megalopae) and juvenile stages are lacking. In this project, we attempt to address
these knowledge gaps by monitoring Dungeness size and abundance at these two early life stages using light traps and intertidal surveys. This project will be co-directed and co-conducted by the Hakai Institute, the University
of British Columbia’s Centre for Indigenous Fisheries, and Tsawout First Nation, focusing on study sites identified by Tsawout community members. By working together to assess early Dungeness life stages and the potential
environmental regulators of Dungeness size and abundance, this project will complement broad-scale work being conducted by Hakai, and will meaningfully support Tsawout in developing a Nation-specific Dungeness crab
stewardship plan.

Faculty Supervisor:

Andrea Reid

Student:

Partner:

The Hakai Institute, part of the Tula Foundation

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Sustainability & the Environment; Indigenous Innovation; Aquaculture and Fishing

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: