Long-Term Observations on Movements of Tagged Male Snow Crabs in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland

Abstract Approximately 10,000 legal-sized male snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio were tagged and released on the commercial fishing grounds of Bonavista Bay between 1979 and 1982 inclusive, The distance that the snow crabs traveled, as determined from 4,255 recaptures, ranged from 0.6 to 74.1 km (mean, 10.7 km; median, 8.5 km). Snow crabs appeared to remain within Bonavista Bay: there was no observed movement to adjacent commercial crab-fishing areas over periods of up to 5 years. The practice of managing the fishery as a discrete unit appears to be warranted.