2022 DNR crab count

[joppaj]

Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey Results Released

news.maryland.gov

The winter dredge survey is not encouraging. Amazingly people seem willing to pay just about any price so market forces may not save the population.

 

[Ponder_MD]

Damn. This makes me reconsider harvesting off my dock even if the hauling's good.

 

[joppaj]

Damn. This makes me reconsider harvesting off my dock even if the hauling's good.

I honestly don't have a clue what it will take to fix this. Seems like small scale, private use crabbing likely isn't the problem as long as you're not taking undersized crabs or pregnant females.

 

[Uncle Duke]

I honestly don't have a clue what it will take to fix this. Seems like small scale, private use crabbing likely isn't the problem as long as you're not taking undersized crabs or pregnant females.

Whatever it takes, any Maryland attempt at a fix is going to need to include Virginia. And nothing gets any easy in either state when more than a few people will spend 6 and 8 and 10 bucks a crab.

 

[trickg]

It makes a person wonder just how danged many crabs were in the bay back during the initial settling of this area.

Sadly, mankind is kind of a blight on the planet - we've managed to kill off so many species that didn't need to be killed off and could have easily been saved with just a little bit of a conservation effort.

 

[joppaj]

Whatever it takes, any Maryland attempt at a fix is going to need to include Virginia. And nothing gets any easy in either state when more than a few people will spend 6 and 8 and 10 bucks a crab.

I agree with both points. Frankly we'll need PA involved as well for the overall health of the Bay. To your second point, if people are willing to pay $120 a dozen, someone will happily provide them.

It makes a person wonder just how danged many crabs were in the bay back during the initial settling of this area.

Sadly, mankind is kind of a blight on the planet - we've managed to kill off so many species that didn't need to be killed off and could have easily been saved with just a little bit of a conservation effort.

I was a kid when the rockfish moratorium went in and I remember the cries of indignation. I suspect that a similiar ban on crabs (and even more so on oysters) might be required but it would never be allowed. Too many people would lose too much money. Businesses would close.

 

[smokedog]

If Virginia is not on board with the fix needed sadly maryland crabbing will be on the decline for years to come.
I will still go as much as I can and enjoy the day.

 

[Dsnyder]

Does anyone else get pissed when the sign outside the crabhouse advertises female crabs for a buck?

 

[Mr H]

It makes a person wonder just how danged many crabs were in the bay back during the initial settling of this area.

Sadly, mankind is kind of a blight on the planet - we've managed to kill off so many species that didn't need to be killed off and could have easily been saved with just a little bit of a conservation effort.

To the non-Native, 'conservation' in the US is a relatively new concept.

Even John James Audubon, who easily comes to mind in that conversation, had his epiphany about extirpation late in life.

In his studies, he used a large number of dead animals. Of birds, he once said, "I consider a species few if I can shoot less than 100..."

 

[Batt816]

Does anyone else get pissed when the sign outside the crabhouse advertises female crabs for a buck?

Why?

 

[Mr H]

Why?

Many say females should be completely off-limits, so they can continue making more.

 

[Melnic]

I have seen so far 1 crab clinging onto the pilings and bulkhead at my OC place. Spring with the clean water, its typically easy to see plenty of them. I do not expect to crab this year leaving them for the commercial folks. Crabs sold in restaurants are likely to be coming from the gulf which has trended up over the past decade (bringing them up from the gulf that is)

 

[smileycloser]

what about the gulf crabs?

 

[BeoBill]

I honestly don't have a clue what it will take to fix this. Seems like small scale, private use crabbing likely isn't the problem as long as you're not taking undersized crabs or pregnant females.

The problem is all the crap that's washing down from NY and PA, AFAIK. And everyone refuses to do anything about it.

 

[Batt816]

Many say females should be completely off-limits, so they can continue making more.

“Sooks“ are female crabs that have already reproduced, they only do that once in their lifetime. It is illegal to keep “sallys” which are females who have not reproduced or “sponge crabs“ that are carrying eggs.

 

[rbird7282]

I agree with both points. Frankly we'll need PA involved as well for the overall health of the Bay. To your second point, if people are willing to pay $120 a dozen, someone will happily provide them.

I was a kid when the rockfish moratorium went in and I remember the cries of indignation. I suspect that a similiar ban on crabs (and even more so on oysters) might be required but it would never be allowed. Too many people would lose too much money. Businesses would close.

Businesses will also close if there’s no crabs.
Trying to get three states to agree on regulations while doing the right thing instead of looking at dollar signs the whole time is damn near impossible.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Muleskinner]

I know a little something about the biology of the Maryland Blue Crab. I did a senior thesis on the life cycle of these animals. As long as Maryland and Virginia continued to allow the harvesting of female crabs and egg-bearing crabs in Virginia the population will continue to decline and the rate of that decline will increase. Looking at the surveys from the last 8 to 10 years it looks to me like within two generations there won't be enough crabs left in the bay for our grandchildren and their children to enjoy crabs like we have. Other places that have blue crabs and commercial harvesting are not having these issues. The waterman want to blame the decline on predation. They claim that cow nose rays and to a lesser extent large redfish are the ones decimating the crab population. While both of those species do eat crabs there's no evidence that they eat them at the rate that would cause this dramatic decline in our crab population. Recreational crabbers have not been able to harvest sooks for over 10 years. If you take a look at tread surveys from the previous 10 years you will see that the numbers continued to drop even though recreational crabbers were banned from harvesting female crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. There's only one thing causing this and the state doesn't have the balls to do anything that would endanger the livelihood of the waterman.

If you want to know what kind of power the waterman's lobby in Annapolis has Google Brenda Davis and Maryland department of natural resources and look what they did to this woman simply because she was trying to save the species for future generations. She knew exactly what she was talking about... And they let her have it with both barrels...

 

[smileycloser]

we need a 10yr moratorium on crabbing.

 

[rseymorejr]

Does anyone else get pissed when the sign outside the crabhouse advertises female crabs for a buck?

When I would go crabbing with my Father when I was little he never kept the females. I don't remember ever eating female crabs at all back then

 

[TI-tick]

I know a little something about the biology of the Maryland Blue Crab. I did a senior thesis on the life cycle of these animals. As long as Maryland and Virginia continued to allow the harvesting of female crabs and egg-bearing crabs in Virginia the population will continue to decline and the rate of that decline will increase. Looking at the surveys from the last 8 to 10 years it looks to me like within two generations there won't be enough crabs left in the bay for our grandchildren and their children to enjoy crabs like we have. Other places that have blue crabs and commercial harvesting are not having these issues. The waterman want to blame the decline on predation. They claim that cow nose rays and to a lesser extent large redfish are the ones decimating the crab population. While both of those species do eat crabs there's no evidence that they eat them at the rate that would cause this dramatic decline in our crab population. Recreational crabbers have not been able to harvest sooks for over 10 years. If you take a look at tread surveys from the previous 10 years you will see that the numbers continued to drop even though recreational crabbers were banned from harvesting female crabs in the Chesapeake Bay. There's only one thing causing this and the state doesn't have the balls to do anything that would endanger the livelihood of the waterman.

If you want to know what kind of power the waterman's lobby in Annapolis has Google Brenda Davis and Maryland department of natural resources and look what they did to this woman simply because she was trying to save the species for future generations. She knew exactly what she was talking about... And they let her have it with both barrels...

IDK, I've seen a lot more rays in the past 10 years or so than before in the Choptank. But that said I agree IDT that's the issue.

I think the big issues are water quality, shoreline, and sea grass. I think the waterman may have some to do with it as farmers. But if you think about it. there are fewer waterman and farmers than there were decades ago; more regulations, and yet the crab and rockfish population is still in trouble.

What has increased is the urban population over the past few decades if not longer.

Increase in population and decrease in habitat.

Outlaw growth before you outlaw waterman; I may be one in the future.