PROTECTING AND REBUILDING THE CHESAPEAKE BAY’S BLUE CRAB POPULATION
The Chesapeake Bay blue crab population has declined 70 percent since the early 1990s, leading to historic low harvests in both Maryland and Virginia in 2007. In April 2008, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Virginia Governor Tim M. Kaine set a framework to sustainably manage the Bay-wide blue crab fishery. The framework sets a sustainable fishing level limit that should not be exceeded (46% of total blue crab population), and a minimum safe level of abundance of spawning adult male and female crabs. If abundance drops below the minimum safe level of 86 million blue crabs, a sustainable fishery cannot be maintained and there is a risk that the blue crab population will be unable to adequately reproduce. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science’s Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey measures the abundance of crabs in Chesapeake Bay each year. Both Virginia and Maryland have established joint strategies that will reduce the harvest of female crabs by 34 percent in 2008.
WHY ARE WE CONCERNED?
The abundance of spawning adult crabs remains low – only slightly above the minimum safe level and well below the conservation safe target abundance of 200 million blue crabs. The decline is the result of many factors including: over harvesting, poor water quality, loss of key habitat such as submerged aquatic vegetation and oyster reefs, and changing climatic conditions that potentially limit the ability of young crabs to return to Chesapeake Bay after developing in the waters of the near-shore Atlantic.
A low number of young crabs entering the population in 2007, continued low abundance of adult crabs, and fishery removals that were too high in 2007, all combine to increase the likelihood that the abundance of adult or spawning blue crabs fell below the minimum safe level.
Power Point Presentation: 2008 Status of the Blue Crab Stock (April 15, 2008)
WHAT IS MARYLAND’S PLAN TO REBUILD THE BLUE CRAB POPULATION?
Maryland has established new emergency recreational and commercial harvest regulations designed to reduce female blue crab harvest by 34 percent. The new regulations became effective on June 1, 2008 and for the 2008 Chesapeake Bay commercial blue crab fishery include an early closure to the season for harvesting female crabs as well as catch limits on female crabs earlier in September and October. Commercial harvest of female crabs will be prohibited beginning October 23 and individualized catch limits will be effective beginning September 1, based on a waterman’s recent annual average reported harvests. The emergency regulations for the 2008 Chesapeake Bay recreational fishery prohibit any female blue crab harvest, effective immediately.
Under Governor O’Malley’s direction, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources began scoping preliminary regulatory ideas in February 2008 and facilitated 11 public and advisory commission meetings, as well as offered an extended online comment process. The final regulatory proposal approved reflects input from more than 600 stakeholders, including recreational and commercial crabbers, local businesses, conservation organizations and concerned citizens.
To mitigate the potential economic impact to commercial crabbers and other businesses, Governor O’Malley worked with the General Assembly to secure $3 million in state capital funds during the recently completed legislative session. Governor O’Malley and Governor Kaine have also joined with Maryland’s U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin in seeking federal disaster relief funds to provide alternative economic opportunities for watermen and crab processors.
Click here for additional background information on the 2008 emergency regulations.
WHAT IS VIRGINIA’S PLAN TO REBUILD THE BLUE CRAB POPULATION?
In April 2008, under the leadership of Governor Tim Kaine, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission adopted new blue crab regulations that closed Virginia’s winter dredge fishery and also shortened the state’s fall crab season.
In February 2008, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission approved regulation changes for the 2008 blue crab season which require that crab pot openings, known as cull rings, be open, no matter where they are set, to increase the chances that undersized crabs will be able to escape, consequently improving chances for reproduction. The VMRC also reduced the allowance of “agents”, in which a waterman can let someone catch crabs in their place. The commercial minimum size limit for “peeler crabs”, later sold as soft crabs, was increased to 3¼ inches across the carapace from March 17 through July 14, and then 3½ inches for the remainder of the season. Additionally, the number of watermen with permission to dredge for crabs in the winter was capped at its current level of approximately 55 boats.
For additional information on the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, see http://www.mrc.state.va.us/.
CHESAPEAKE BAY BLUE CRAB FACTS
|
2007 Commercial Blue Crab Harvest Data |
| Jurisdiction |
Pounds |
% Female |
Dollar Value of
Catch at Dock |
#
Licenses* |
| Maryland |
22,520,169 |
52 |
$32,885,711 |
2,397 |
| Virginia |
19,309,526 |
61 |
$15,476,953 |
1,530 |
| Potomac River |
2,350,000 |
34.5 |
$3,431,654 |
498 |
| Total |
44,179,695 |
--- |
$51,794,319 |
--- |
*Individuals may hold a license in multiple jurisdictions. Not all license holders are full-time crabbers.
|
Recent Commercial Blue Crab Harvest (Pounds) |
| Year |
Potomac River |
Maryland |
Virginia |
Bay-wide Total |
| 1990 |
5,118,854 |
48,666,715 |
52,034,505 |
105,820,074 |
| 1991 |
7,177,989 |
48,627,671 |
44,875,121 |
100,680,781 |
| 1992 |
5,776,523 |
31,353,002 |
23,866,552 |
60,996,077 |
| 1993 |
7,478,105 |
57,625,281 |
53,229,538 |
118,332,924 |
| 1994 |
5,945,023 |
44,243,040 |
35,530,115 |
85,718,178 |
| 1995 |
4,020,185 |
41,173,306 |
32,678,716 |
77,872,207 |
| 1996 |
5,657,339 |
37,020,587 |
33,896,253 |
76,574,179 |
| 1997 |
9,053,936 |
40,159,876 |
39,850,839 |
89,064,651 |
| 1998 |
5,172,120 |
25,667,914 |
33,470,371 |
64,310,405 |
| 1999 |
5,180,000 |
31,570,031 |
31,585,143 |
68,335,174 |
| 2000 |
2,038,240 |
20,238,872 |
29,083,303 |
51,360,415 |
| 2001 |
2,371,120 |
22,667,865 |
25,288,871 |
50,327,856 |
| 2002 |
2,551,080 |
23,814,080 |
27,469,956 |
53,835,116 |
| 2003 |
1,975,160 |
25,175,265 |
21,825,284 |
48,975,709 |
| 2004 |
2,929,880 |
32,272,346 |
28,283,629 |
63,485,855 |
| 2005 |
4,235,640 |
30,058,615 |
28,322,312 |
62,616,567 |
| 2006 |
3,957,160 |
28,035,862 |
23,929,736 |
55,922,758 |
| 2007 |
2,350,000 |
22,520,169 |
17,400,00 |
43,470,000 |
*These figures are living documents and will change as more reports are submitted from watermen across the state.
In 2007, Maryland sold 49,956 recreational crabbing licenses, which are required for recreational crabbers using certain gear types and/or
harvesting more than two dozen hard crabs or one dozen soft crabs or peelers daily.
The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab population is currently estimated to be 280 million.
On average the lifespan of a blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay is three to four years.
RECENT PRESS RELEASES
Governor O’Malley Praises AELR Committee For Support Of Blue Crab Regulations (May 22, 2008)
Statement by DNR Secretary John R. Griffin Regarding Blue Crabs (May 5, 2008)
Statement By Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley On Blue Crab Management Decisions By Virginia (April 23, 2008)
Maryland Proposes Regulations to Rebuild Blue Crab Population (April 21, 2008)
Governors O’Malley And Kaine Announce Joint Effort To Rebuild Blue Crab Populations (April 15, 2008)
DNR Continues to Seek Public Comment on Potential Blue Crab Regulations (April 4, 2008)
DNR Announces Estimated 2007 Blue Crab Harvest Numbers (February 4, 2008)
Governor Martin O’Malley Statement On Federal Blue Crab Disaster Funding (November 18, 2008)
For more information about blue crabs, visit http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/crab/crabindex.html.
Last Updated on November 19, 2008
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