346 
Fishery Bulletin 1 14(3) 
Table 1 
Data collected from trawl tows and expanded catch data from surveys of red deepsea crab (Chaecon quinquedens) conducted 
in the mid-Atlantic Bight during 3 cruises (2011-2013): depth stratum of trawl (Strat; l=shallow [250-450 m], 2=middle 
slope [450-700 m], and 3=deep [700-850 m]); bottom temperature (Btemp, °C); swept area (Area, m^); number of male crab 
caught (Males), number of female crab caught (Females); total number of crab caught (Total); density of male crab (Mdens, 
individuals/ha); density of female crab (Fdens, individuals/ha), total density of crab (Tdens, individuals/ha); expansion fac- 
tor for subsampled tows (ExpFac); mean weight of male crab (Mwt, kg); and mean weight of female crab (Fwt, kg). Stations 
were located at 4 sites: Block Island Canyon (BIG), Hudson Canyon (Hud), Baltimore and Washington Canyons (BWC), and 
Norfolk Canyon (Nor). 
Depth 
Station 
Year 
Date 
Strat 
(m) 
Btemp 
Area 
Males 
Females 
Total 
Mdens 
Fdens 
Tdens 
ExpFac 
Mwt 
Fwt 
Hud-1 
2011 
1/15/2011 
1 
403.7 
7.8 
30,512 
170 
307 
477 
55.7 
100.7 
156.3 
3.613 
0.236 
0.265 
Hud-2 
2011 
1/15/2011 
2 
499.4 
6.4 
33,057 
480 
655 
1134 
145.1 
198.0 
343.1 
5.643 
0.357 
0.206 
Hud-2 
2011 
1/15/2011 
2 
558.5 
7.3 
31,866 
1017 
1645 
2662 
319.2 
516.1 
835.3 
10.820 
0.213 
0.156 
Hud-3 
2011 
1/14/2011 
2 
631.7 
5.5 
31,413 
725 
1755 
2480 
230.7 
558.8 
789.5 
10.206 
0.289 
0.130 
Nor-l 
2011 
1/18/2011 
1 
363.4 
9.0 
29,312 
20 
177 
197 
6.8 
60.2 
67.0 
2.487 
0.360 
0.350 
Nor-3 
2011 
1/17/2011 
2 
580.8 
5.1 
26,645 
388 
509 
897 
145.7 
190.9 
336.6 
6.693 
0.263 
0.284 
BIC-1 
2012 
1/19/2012 
1 
246.9 
10.2 
47,921 
0 
0 
0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0 
BIC-2 
2012 
1/19/2012 
2 
483.6 
6.1 
41,463 
103 
211 
315 
25.0 
51.0 
75.9 
4.312 
BIC-3 
2012 
1/19/2012 
3 
731.5 
4.6 
30,482 
214 
62 
276 
70.1 
20.3 
90.4 
3.444 
Hud-1 
2012 
1/21/2012 
1 
294.0 
11.5 
42,011 
0 
0 
0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0 
Hud-2 
2012 
1/26/2012 
1 
298.3 
8.8 
32,071 
277 
92 
369 
86.3 
28.8 
115.1 
5.127 
Hud-3 
2012 
1/26/2012 
2 
644.2 
6.9 
34,345 
125 
200 
326 
36.5 
58.3 
94.8 
2.022 
0.278 
0.20 
BWC-1 
2012 
1/25/2012 
1 
134.8 
14.2 
30,847 
0 
5 
5 
0.0 
1.6 
1.6 
1 
BWC-2 
2012 
1/25/2012 
2 
571.4 
5.6 
25,973 
520 
2092 
2612 
200.2 
805.3 
1005.5 
11.556 
0.386 
0.190 
BWC-3 
2012 
1/25/2012 
3 
760.5 
5.1 
27,007 
100 
51 
151 
37.0 
18.9 
55.9 
1 
Nor-l 
2012 
1/23/2012 
1 
321.4 
9.2 
37,555 
0 
0 
0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0 
Nor-2 
2012 
1/23/2012 
2 
521.9 
6.8 
42,703 
377 
882 
1259 
88.3 
206.5 
294.7 
6.389 
Nor-3 
2012 
1/22/2012 
3 
773.7 
4.8 
25,800 
90 
64 
154 
34.8 
24.8 
59.6 
1.830 
Hud-1 
2013 
7/7/2013 
1 
263.6 
8.1 
34,124 
0 
0 
0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0 
Hud-2 
2013 
7/7/2013 
2 
569.2 
5.7 
42,385 
0 
0 
0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0 
Hud-3 
2013 
7/7/2013 
3 
792.5 
4.8 
32,560 
113 
26 
139 
34.7 
8.0 
42.7 
1 
0.27 
0.326 
BWC-1 
2013 
7/8/2013 
1 
288.7 
11.2 
34,070 
1 
10 
11 
0.3 
2.9 
3.2 
1 
0.306 
0.221 
BWC-2 
2013 
7/8/2013 
2 
500.8 
6.5 
33,171 
387 
1391 
1778 
116.7 
419.4 
536.1 
5.610 
0.306 
0.221 
Nor-l 
2013 
7/5/2013 
1 
236.5 
12.2 
37,488 
0 
0 
0 
0.0 
0.0 
0.0 
0 
Nor-2 
2013 
7/5/2013 
1 
414.4 
8.1 
31,094 
151 
416 
567 
40.4 
110.8 
151.2 
3.883 
0.401 
0.332 
Nor-3 
2013 
7/5/2013 
3 
750.0« 
7.1 
33,694 
336 
78 
414 
99.8 
23.1 
122.9 
2.101 
0.211 
0.185 
“ Conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor failed; depth estimated from chart. 
a codend that had a 1-cm mesh liner, and deepwater 
headrope floats (“rock hoppers”) was deployed from the 
stern trawl A-frame by using both trawl winches and 
2.5-cm trawl wires. In 2012 and 2013, a similarly size 
4-seam otter trawl net (with 6.0-cm body mesh and 2.5- 
cm codend liner) was used. In all years, a 30-min tow 
was made at -1.5 m/s (3 kt) along a specified depth 
contour at each site and stratum. Distance towed was 
determined from GPS coordinates, and area towed was 
estimated as the distance multiplied by average net 
width (13.0 m). Tows were made during all hours of 
day or night. Time constraints prevented measuring 
all crab in tows with larger catches (catch for 6 of the 
tows exceeded 1000 crab); as a result, a goal of 150-200 
crab per catch was set. All catches that consisted of 
up to 3 baskets or a total of 60 kg of red deepsea crab 
(approximately 150 crabs) were sampled completely. 
whereas, for larger catches, a subsample of 2-3 baskets 
that composed from 10% to 50% of the catch was taken. 
The subsample was sorted by sex, after which males 
and females were weighed separately to determine the 
proportion of their biomass in the whole catch. A sam- 
pling factor for each tow was recorded along with each 
crab for later data expansion. 
For each crab in a subsampled tow, the sex and 
shell condition were recorded. Shell condition includes 
coloration and abrasions of the carapace, sternum, 
and dactyls, and therefore provides a crude but inte- 
grated index of time since molt. Shells were classified 
into 4 standard categories, defined by the National 
Marine Fisheries Service for brachyuran crabs (see 
Jadamec et ah, 1999), that represented relative time 
since molting, determined by radiometric aging (Nev- 
issi et ah, 1996). We have adapted the following cat- 
