Abstract Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) replaced northern cod (Gadus morhua) as the primary social and employment fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) during the 1990s. For nearly three decades snow crab has supported thousands of fishing enterprises and enabled the NL fishery to prosper to unprecedented economic status. Following a growth phase in the early 1990s, and despite gradually declining for two decades, the snow crab resource remained relatively strong until recent years. Since 2012, there have been repeated warnings given about an imminent large decline in the NL snow crab resource, which has now come to fruition throughout the stock range. A 2014 review of factors associated with the decline concluded that temperature had been the over-arching factor contributing to dampened recruitment, but warned that top-down fishing control was likely to become dominant if harvest levels did not sufficiently adjust to the forthcoming decline. Recent stock assessments have found the stock biomass to be at historically measured lows and highlighted a major biological concern of broad-scale reductions in size-at-maturity associated with recent cooling and fishing exploitation rates that have elevated to be at or near historical highs throughout the stock range. In this article, we provide colourful perspectives on the history of the NL fishery and the current state of the NL snow crab resource, highlighting commonalities associated with the collapse of the historically dominant northern cod fishery and the present-day situation with snow crab. The article is intended to fit within the context of a broader journal theme edition featuring investigations into factors affecting the NL snow crab resource.

中文翻译：

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去壳：自纽芬兰和拉布拉多渔业暂停鳕鱼以来，已清除了 100 万吨雪蟹

摘要 1990 年代，雪蟹（Chionoecetes opilio）取代北鳕（Gadus morhua）成为纽芬兰和拉布拉多（NL）的主要社会和就业渔业。近三十年来，雪蟹支持了数千家渔业企业，使荷兰渔业繁荣到前所未有的经济地位。在经历了 1990 年代初的增长阶段，尽管 20 年来逐渐下降，但雪蟹资源直到最近几年仍然相对强劲。自 2012 年以来，一再警告 NL 雪蟹资源即将大幅下降，现在已经在整个库存范围内实现。2014 年对与下降相关的因素的审查得出结论认为，温度是导致招聘受阻的首要因素，但警告说，如果捕捞水平没有充分适应即将到来的下降，自上而下的捕捞控制可能会成为主导。最近的种群评估发现种群生物量处于历史测得的低点，并突出了一个主要的生物学问题，即与最近的降温和捕捞开发率相关的成熟体大小的广泛减少，这些速率在整个过程中一直处于或接近历史高位库存范围。在本文中，我们对 NL 渔业的历史和 NL 雪蟹资源的现状提供了丰富多彩的视角，重点介绍了与历史上占主导地位的北方鳕鱼渔业的崩溃和雪蟹现状相关的共性。