The Ship, the Saint, and the Sailor: The Long Search for the Legendary Kad'yak
by Bradley G. Stevens (2018)
Ingram Press/Graphic Arts Books, San Diego. 280 pp.
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In 1861, the Russian barque Kad’yak set sail from Kodiak, Alaska, with a shipload of ice, but within a few miles from shore struck a rock and foundered. However, because it was full of ice, it drifted for four days before finally sinking near the grave of Alaska’s revered Father (now Saint) Herman on Spruce Island.
Over 140 years later, I found the ship with a team of volunteer divers, after years of painstaking research. This is the incredible story of the ship (Kad’yak), the Saint (Herman), and the Sailor (Captain Arkhimandritov) and their intertwined history within the larger context of Alaskan history. It is the story of how the ship was found, almost lost again to private salvors, and became the site of the first underwater archaeological survey in Alaska.
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King Crabs of the World: Biology and Fisheries Management by Bradley G. Stevens (ed). 2014.
CRC Press (Taylor and Francis), Boca Raton, FL. 608 pp.
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With species existing in all subpolar seas, king crabs are one of the most valuable seafoods. Major fluctuations in their abundance have stimulated a flurry of research and a rapid expansion of the scientific literature in the last decade. King Crabs of the World: Biology and Fisheries Management consolidates extensive knowledge on the biology, systematics, anatomy, life history, and fisheries of king crabs and presents it in a single volume. This book is the first comprehensive scientific reference devoted to the biology and fisheries of king crabs.
The book describes king crabs and their place in the world, covering geographic distribution, depth and temperature ranges, and maps of known habitats. Chapters examine phylogenetic relationships, evolutionary history and phylogeography, internal and external anatomy of king crabs, the history of king crab fisheries in the North Pacific, the Southern Hemisphere, and the Barents Sea. Other chapters describe diseases of king crabs, their life history and biology, development and biology of embryos, larvae, and juveniles, reproduction, growth and feeding of king crabs.
The final chapters discuss human and environmental interactions with king crabs, including fishing impacts (bycatch and discard mortality), aquaculture and stock enhancement (in which the author was a pioneer), and effects of climate change on king crab populations. The final chapter presents the author’s outlook on the future of king crab research and populations.
