Aceves Bueno, EréndiraGood, Melanie2025-08-012025-08-012025-08-012025Good_washington_0250O_28603.pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/1773/53686Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025Despite continued fishery closures as of 2018, significant declines in the abundance of Dungeness crab have been documented within the South Basin of Puget Sound, prompting an urgent need to understand the vulnerability of Dungeness crab to climate change and anthropogenic effects within the inland waters of the Salish Sea. An expert focus group and regional literature review were used to identify direct and indirect stressors on the Dungeness crab population in South Puget Sound. In this severely data-limited system, expert knowledge is used to provide the best available science to address critical resource management decisions. The goal of this project was the co-production of a conceptual model of the drivers of Dungeness crab abundance in South Puget Sound to inform research and management priorities, identify local knowledge gaps, and support future qualitative modeling efforts. Based on the results of the literature review and expert focus group discussions, the main drivers of Dungeness crab abundance appear to be the overlapping effects of climate change and eutrophication on dissolved oxygen, water temperature, and ocean acidification.application/pdfen-USnoneDungeness crablocal ecological knowledgePuget Soundresource managementNatural resource managementMarine affairsThesis