Estimation of pop-up satellite archival tag initial surface position: applications for eastern Bering Sea crab research

Abstract Background Climate change is reshaping Bering Sea crab distributions and recent population declines have elevated the urgency in understanding spatial dynamics in relation to management boundaries. While pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) can provide fishery-independent movement information, a high level of spatial resolution is needed to evaluate small-scale (i.e., 10 s of km) movements of crabs. Because PSATs drift at the surface prior to acquisition of a satellite-estimated location (via Argos), the accuracy of pop-up location (i.e., animal terminal position) estimates depends on the ability to accurately estimate drift error. We deployed PSATs ( n = 36) on fixed-position moorings in Bristol Bay and Marmot Bay, Alaska to validate a new method to estimate tag pop-up location and an associated error ellipse that uses in situ drift data from surfaced tags to estimate drift error. Estimated pop-up location was compared to the location of tag surfacing (i.e., the tag’s fixed position) and to an alternative estimate (i.e., an early satellite-estimated location). Additional tags were deployed on mature male red king crab ( Paralithodes camtschaticus ) in Bristol Bay during 2020 ( n = 84) and 2021 ( n = 90) to compare estimates of tag drift error and crab displacement derived using the method. Results For red king crab tags with pop-up location estimates in 2020 ( n = 79) and 2021 ( n = 46), mean drift error was 9% and 44% of mean crab displacement, respectively. For fixed-position PSATs with pop-up location estimates ( n = 27), mean distance between the estimated pop-up location and the tag’s fixed position was 2.0 km, representing a mean improvement in accuracy of 51% over alternative estimates. Corresponding error ellipse estimates either encompassed the tag’s fixed position ( n = 11) or their boundaries were a mean distance of 1.3 km ( n = 16) from the fixed position. Conclusions Our method improves pop-up location estimates for PSAT-tagged animals and is particularly well suited for crabs and other slow-moving benthic marine species. The improved estimates enhance PSAT utility for addressing management and ecological questions that require a fine spatial resolution, such as movement near management boundaries or defining essential habitat for important life history events.