Spatial distribution of catch and effort in a fishery for snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio):: tests of predictions of the ideal free distribution

The ideal free distribution (IFD), a hypothesis from behavioural ecology, predicts that fishery effort should map resource distribution better than catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) when interference competition occurs in the fishery. We tested this prediction using data from the fishery and annual research survey for snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Effort was positively correlated with the local abundance of crabs in all years. Correlations between CPUE and local crab abundance were also positive in some years, but negative in others. In the latter cases, CPUE and effort were also negatively correlated, suggesting intense competition in the fishery. In most years, CPUE tended to be equalized among areas compared with the distributions of effort and local crab abundance, as predicted by the IFD. In most years, differences in spatial distribution were more significant between CPUE and crab abundance than between effort and crab abundance. Although effort was the more reliable indicator of resource distribution, even it provided a distorted view of this distribution, as predicted given expected violations of IFD assumptions. For example, effort tended to be higher than expected on fishing grounds near home ports and lower than expected on distant grounds.