CALIFORNIA, Md. – Maryland’s recreational crabbing season officially opens April 1 for the Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries, as well as in the Atlantic Ocean, coastal bays, and their tributaries.
Recreational crabbing in Maryland can be performed in various ways. Licenses are required for those using a trotline, collapsible crab traps, net rings, seines, or eel pots. However, a license is not required for anyone using handlines or dip nets. Additionally, waterfront property owners, lessees, or tenants of a private shoreline property can register to crab license-free using up to two crab pots.
To protect other aquatic species, all crab pots used by waterfront property owners in Maryland must be fitted with a bycatch reduction or turtle excluder device in every entry funnel. Violations are punishable by fines up to $1,000 for the first offense. Pots must also be marked with the owner’s name, address, or DNR identification number.
In the Atlantic Ocean or coastal bays and their tributaries, a recreational crabbing license isn’t required. Also, any passenger on a boat with a valid crabbing license doesn’t need an individual license to crab.
All recreational crabbers are prohibited from selling crabs. Possessing an egg-bearing (sponge) crab or any female hard or peeler crab is also prohibited.
Maryland’s blue crab season runs from April 1 to December 15 in the Chesapeake Bay, and until December 31 in the Atlantic Ocean, its coastal bays, and tidal tributaries.
For more information on crabbing licenses, restrictions, possession limits, and size limits, please refer to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources website.
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