Motupore Island Research Centre

Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Black land Crab, Colombia

Funding Organisation: UK Darwin Initiative, through Heriot-Watt University, Scotland

Funds Awarded: 9,300 UK Pounds (approximately 52,000 Kina)

Partners: CORALINA, Colombia; Heriot-Watt University, Scotland; Port Erin Marine Laboratory, Isle of Man, UK

Duration: October 2003 - April 2005

The Black Land Crab, Gecarcinus ruricola, is overexploited, yet understudied in the Caribbean, particularly in the archipelago of San Andres, Colombia, where it is a symbol of cultural identity as well as a major source of protein and economic subsistence. This project aimed to assist in the conservation, recovery and development of sustainable management practices for use of this species, involving local community participation. The project has seen the collation and analysis of biological/socio-economic information; and the training of community members and CORALINA (the local environmental authority) personnel in community based resource management, biological analyses and land crab sustainable management. A management review was produced and a conservaiton unit established. MIRC is contracted to oversee this programme of research.

Related Publications

Hartnoll, R.G., Baine, M.S.P., Britton, A., Grandas, Y., James, J. and M. Richmond (in submission). Reproductive biology of the black land crab, Gecarcinus ruricola, in the San Andres Archipelago, Western Caribbean. Journal of Crustacean Biology.

Baine, M., Taylor, E., James, J., Velasco, A., Grandas, Y. and Hartnoll, R.G. (in submission). The Development of Management Options for the Black Land Crab (Gecarcinus ruricola) Catchery in the San Andres Archipelago, Colombia. Ocean and Coastal Management.

Hartnoll, R.G., Baine, M.S.P., Grandas., Y., James, J. and H. Atkin. (in press). Population biology of the black land crab, Gecarcinus ruricola, in the San Andres Archipelago, Western Caribbean. Journal of Crustacean Biology.

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