Annapolis, MD – Heading to the Chesapeake Bay to harvest crab this season? Your catch might not be as bountiful as you think. A recent Blue Crab Advisory Report released by the Chesapeake Bay Program warns that the population of young crabs has dropped 54 percent since last year, Daily Press reports.
“Jurisdictions should maintain a cautious, risk-averse approach in 2017, and consider scaling back the fall fishery from last year’s more liberal regulations,” the advisory warns. “This would protect a greater number of juvenile crabs and give them the opportunity to grow old enough to spawn next year, which would produce more crabs in the future.”
According to Daily Press, the 2016 harvest turned up about 60 million pounds of blue crabs. This is about 20% more than the year before, but still within healthy levels. However, due to the sudden drop in juvenile crabs, commercial crabbers are being asked to be cautious this year.
But the results aren’t all bleak: The adult female population actually went up by 30% in 2016, higher than the target population level. Daily Press also reports that the main purpose of this caution is to let the juveniles grow to reproductive age and replenish the population.
Many other local and state governments take similar measures to discourage overfishing and underpopulation of crabs. For example, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries halts the commercial harvest of blue crabs for a 30-day-period every year to allow the species to stabilize. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s advisory, population numbers naturally vary throughout the year for a number of reasons, so these precautions are part of protocol for Maryland crabbers.
“Blue crab populations can naturally vary widely from year to year, based on weather, water temperature and other conditions, as well as fishing pressure,” the program writes. “Commercial fishermen rely on a steady supply of crabs in the Bay, and recreational crabbers enjoy being able to catch crabs. Using science such as that included in the Blue Crab Advisory Report enables resource managers to set regulations that help support a sustainable blue crab population and promote coordination across the jurisdictions.”
According to the advisory, the Chesapeake Bay is managed by the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources.