Virginia and Maryland reduce crab harvest allowances for rest of year

Chesapeake Bay crabbers will have reduced harvest allowances for the rest of this year under limits adopted this week in response to a worrisome drop in the Bay’s population of the popular crustaceans.

In Maryland, tighter restrictions on both commercial and recreational crabbing take effect July 1, with watermen facing first-ever limits on the number of male crabs they can harvest in August and September. The Department of Natural Resources also reduced the allowable commercial harvest of female crabs by up to 29%, depending on the month and type of crabbing gear used, through the end of the season on Nov. 30.

Recreational crabbers also will be cut back to only one bushel per day by boat, down from two bushels daily.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission unanimously agreed June 28 to impose new restrictions on commercial harvests from Oct. 1 to the end of the season on Nov. 30. Those reduced limits will carry over for six weeks into the start of the 2023 season, four weeks longer than originally planned.

With the Chesapeake Bay crab population at its lowest ebb in 30 years of monitoring, fishery managers warned that more restrictions affecting a broader swath of crab harvesters are sure to come.

“We’re just starting this process,” said Pat Geer, the commission’s chief of fisheries management. “We are going to be looking at a lot of different things over the next few months.”

The annual winter dredge survey of the Bay’s blue crab population, released in May, found the smallest abundance of blue crabs in its history, which dates back to 1990. Researchers reported an estimated 227 million crabs in the Bay. The previous low was 270 million crabs in 2004.

Dramatic year-to-year swings in crab abundance are common, but scientists say the recent downturn is especially troubling. While the survey’s estimate for female crabs remained within the range believed sufficient to sustain the population, reproduction has been subpar for three years running. The estimate of juvenile crabs hit an all-time low in 2021 and improved only slightly this year to the second lowest abundance.

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