Why Limit Crab Harvests?

Earlier this month, the Department of Natural Resources announced it was further limiting commercial harvests of female blue crabs. Why? A study came out in late April that showed crab numbers to be significantly lower than they were last year.

Here are the numbers: in one year, the number of crabs in the Chesapeake Bay dropped from 765 million to 300 million, and the number of juvenile crabs dipped from 581 million to 111 million. There seem to be two major factors in this dramatic drop. Turns out that cold spring did a lot more than delay the emergence of cicadas - it seems to have caused extremely low crab reproduction. In addition, huge red drum populations likely caused an abnormally high crab mortality rate (they prey on young crabs). Obviously, just a few fish wouldn't have made a huge difference. But look at these numbers: Virginia’s recreational anglers last year caught 2.5 million red drum fish, about 40 times the 61,330 reported in 2011 and nearly 90 times the 28,580 reported in 2010, according to records. In Maryland, the 2012 red drum harvest is estimated to be nearly 300,000 fish, compared to fewer than 3,000 in 2010 and 2011.

It was only 5 years ago that the bay's crab population was declared a federal disaster, and regulations implemented since have made this no longer the case. 

The good news in these bad numbers? The number of spawning-age females increased by 52 percent from the previous year to 147 million. DNR attributed this increase to the current regulations, which restrict the harvesting of females.

So, for the rest of 2013, further restrictions have been put in place. The government is attempting to reduce the female crab harvest by 10 percent. Officials are reducing the daily catch limits on female crabs by 20 to 40 percent, depending on the time of year and the number of "pots" each commercial waterman is licensed to use to harvest crabs.

Remember: recreational crabbers are not allowed to catch any female crabs. A female has red painted tips on her claws, whereas males have blue tips. There are also differences in their abdomens. Learn more about how to identify female crabs here.

What do you think of these new regulations?