Does soak time influence the effect of artificial light on catch efficiency in snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) pot fishery?

In the Barents Sea commercial snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) fishery, an increase in catch efficiency of the conical pots is important for the profitability of the industry. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have previously been tested for increasing catch efficiency of the snow crab pots. These earlier experiments have shown varying results ranging from large increase in snow crab catches to no significant effect. These experiments have used different pot soaking times; however, the soaking time might affect the impact of LEDs on catch efficiency. In commercial snow crab fishery, the pot soak time is varying which has not been considered in earlier experiments testing the effect of LEDs. Therefore, this study examined whether pot soaking time can explain the observed differences in relative catch efficiency of snow crab pots with and without LEDs with soak times ranging from 2 to 14 days in the Barents Sea snow crab fishery. For target sizes of snow crab (≥95 mm carapace width), results indicated an increase in catch efficiency between 10 and 30% for pots with LEDs with exception of one experiment using six days soak time. However, experimental results were subjected to large uncertainties and, except from one experiment with five days soak time, the estimated increases were nonsignificant. Furthermore, the pot soak time was not found to impact the effect of white LEDs on capture efficiency.