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A study was made of the reasons for high mortality of velvet crabs during holding and transport. The investigations showed various water quality and animal condition parameters to be the cause of mortality. Recommendations are made which if implemented would significantly reduce mortality rates.

Meeting minutes for the 11th meeting of the Crab and Lobster Management Group (CMG) which took place on 6th February 2023 via Microsoft Teams.

Examination made on two consignments of brown crab exported from the UK to Spain. The aim was to assess the loads for quality, marketability and mortality and to account for the differences observed. In particular the relationship between physical D.A. Massonage and mortality was investigated and the causes of D.A. Massonage were discussed at some length.

A series of codes have been developed to advise industry of best practice when handling, storing and dispatching crustaceans. This Code of Practice covers the catching sector.

The rapid development of the British Shellfish Industry and the requirement to export live shellfish has lead to the industry needing better methods and information about live holding. This data sheet is part of a series forming a guide to the selection of equipment needed to successfully store and transport live crabs and lobsters. These data sheets should be used in conjunction with data sheets: Handling Crabs for the Live Trade: Part I and II. This sheet is a guide to both the filters, and instrumentation requirements of live holding and vivier systems.

The first aim of this project was to examine and gain a better understanding of the aggressive behaviour of the animals. Aggressive behaviour, causing injury or death, is thought to be a major obstacle in keeping animals in communal tanks. It was found that the Norway lobsters are able to build a dominance hierarchy, which reduces overall aggression in communal tanks. Moreover, it was found that pheromones are necessary for establishing dominance. Follow up studies will aim to gain a better understanding of the role of aggression in natural behaviour including territoriality,resource competition and mate choice. The second aim is to develop economic holding conditions for the animals. Holding animals in communal tanks is thought to be easier to manage - in terms of feeding and maintaining good water quality - than keeping them separately. Ongoing experiments comparing holding conditions indicate that there seems to be no difference in survival rate between individual and communal holding conditions. The third aim is to decide upon the best methods of collecting eggs and to hatch them. This will be researched in the next two years. Eggs will be collected by catching berried females. Holding conditions will be tested to maximize the hatching rate of the four larval stages in the lab. The results of the study will improve the understanding of the species which could help drive better stock management. In addition, it could support the fishing industry by providing sustainability and reducing the influence of natural barriers to fishing, such as weather conditions.

A series of codes have been developed to advise industry of best practice when handling, storing and dispatching crustaceans. This Code of Practice covers the processing sector.

A series of codes have been developed to advise industry of best practice when handling, storing and dispatching crustaceans. This Code of Practice covers the retail sector.

Velvet swimming crabs are traditionally consumed by southern European nations where crab fisheries have collapsed - this has enabled development of the velvet crab fishery in Northern Ireland as a commercially significant sector. There exists, however, virtually no data on which to base the sustainable exploitation of this fishery. This research will pursue studies of populations and individuals of the velvet crab to provide critical information to inform and guide policy in this important fishing industry in Northern Ireland, and will potentially develop local economies and jobs. We will: (1) conduct field surveys of abundance and population structure of velvet crab; (2) assess effects of fishing methods and by-catch on sustainability; (3) examine the welfare of individuals with physiological measures to enhance survivorship and welfare during transportation, thus improving meat yield and quality.

A series of codes have been developed to advise industry of best practice when handling, storing and dispatching crustaceans. This Code of Practice covers the food service sector.

Drawing together the UK experience of lobster stocking as well as information from other programmes in Europe and North America, the report provides a sound knowledge base for anyone interested in setting up a lobster hatchery or stocking programme.

The report is an information document describing the main features of the fishery for M. Puber and its markets. This report has been produced from a scanned original and may therefore contain some formatting and other inaccuracies. In cases where this affects the technical content, a paper copy of the original report can still be obtained from Seafish.