Lingering cold temps slow start to crab season

Lingering cold temperatures have slowed the start for the Eastern Shore’s crab season.

Tangier Mayor James ‘Ooker’ Eskridge said the freezing temps experienced on the Shore last week have hurt the catch numbers.

“It’s been a slow start because our spring has been colder than last spring,” said Eskridge. “Last spring we were already catching quite a few crabs by now.”

Virginia’s Crab Season officially began March 17, but the calendar only means so much to mother nature.

“The season opens by the calendar, but the water temperature always determines how crabbing is going to start,” he added. “We still got quite a bit of cold water in the way, especially with the weather last week. Just a few days ago, I was out to my crab house and there was ice floating around.”

As for the price, it has fallen, but Eskridge still said it is still good.

“Prices are good, they are getting good money for hard crabs,” he said. “It started out at $200 dollars a bushel, I think now they are getting $125 a bushel for female hard crabs, which is a super price.”

According to the 2020 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Advisory report, the blue crab population, had declined from the previous report, but experts still say the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Population is not depleted or being overfished.

Good news for crabbers: temperatures are forecast to remain on the cooler side through Monday before getting back into the upper 60s beginning Tuesday.

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