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Blue crab population in Chesapeake Bay declines

The Maryland DNR and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science conduct a yearly dredge survey of the blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay, in which they estimated a 18 percent decline from last year to 372 million blue crabs in 2018.
Credit: file photo
Steamed blue crabs

(Delmarva Now) -- The blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay declined by nearly one-fifth for the second year in a row, with the male population hitting a trigger point that has led to discussions over management, according to a new report.

Experts say the overall stock remains healthy and decline is not cause for immediate concern, but that they are closely watching the numbers.

“Crabs are kind of variable so not all that unexpected, but definitely something we are keeping an eye on,” said Genine McClair, manager of the Blue Crab Program at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The harsh winter coupled with a scarcity of young crabs last year has contributed to the low numbers in the beginning of the crab season, McClair added.

The Maryland DNR and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science conduct a yearly dredge survey of the blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay, in which they estimated a 18 percent decline from last year to 372 million blue crabs in 2018. That survey is the basis for the newly released Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Advisory Report, in which experts analyze the yearly findings.

Seafood business owner Liza Evans has seen the decreased population firsthand. She said her husband, who catches crabs in the Chesapeake Bay south of Annapolis, has had difficulty this year.

“I was just talking to my husband about it and he was saying it is the worst he has seen it in a long time,” said Evans.

Credit: Megan Raymond, Delmarva Now
Captain Steve Cardano, Tour Guide, talks about crab aboard the Cape Water Taxi Eco Tour on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017.

But blue crab lovers may be able to look forward to more crabs as the summer continues.

“We did see an increase to the juvenile abundance, it wasn’t a huge increase, but those crabs will grow into legal size towards the end of the season,” said McClair, who hopes the uptick in young crabs will lead to a better fall harvest than last year.

The survey recommended a cautious, but steady approach to management in 2018.

The blue crab management program has focused its efforts on spawning-age females, believing them to have the largest impact on the population as a whole. There are controls on the harvest of female crabs and the overall management strategy is based on their numbers.

Experts said this strategy appears to be working well despite a 42 percent decline this spawning-age females this year. The adult female population had grown to a record high of 254 million last year and the population remains well over the threshold level that would be considered dangerously low.

“There are no indications from where the population is that we should harvest more, but there are no red flags that we need to make a drastic change,” said Allison Colden, Maryland fisheries scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Although no change has been recommended for the female crabs, the percentage of male crabs that were harvested out of the total population last year reached the second highest level in the past 26 years. This hit a conservation trigger that has caused discussion at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

“That is kind of a guardrail or a red flag,” said McClair. “We hit that male trigger so now we are saying, ‘Should we take a look at male management?’ ”

The conservation trigger was recommended by the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee in 2013. The trigger is prompted if the fraction of male crabs removed by fishing is equal or higher than 34 percent of the total population, which is the second highest level since 1990.

The latest number reached this trigger for the first time since its implementation. The Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee recommended that the situation be closely monitored and wrote in the advisory report that action should be considered next year if the trend continues.

McClair stressed that new management of the male blue crab is not imminent.

“It is definitely something that is being tossed around the table, but there is nothing in the works at the moment,” she said.

Jerry Lankford of Southern Connection Seafood in Crisfield hopes discussions don’t lead to action, saying any attempt to manage the male blue crab would be unwelcome. He said the blue crab has been plentiful this year and he has had no problem filling his orders.

“If there is not enough crabs to catch, the watermen and the people that crab will not go out and try to catch the last crabs,” said Lankford, who manages hard crab purchasing at a large seafood retailer. “If they can’t make money on it they will quit on their own, you don’t have to worry about enforcing some law.”

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