2023 crab limits set

[remrug]

Tuck Hines published a paper over a decade ago comparing the amount of sperm in blue crabs in heavily harvested areas ( MD) vs less heavily harvested areas.

Turns out, males crabs here, are WAY lower. They grab a female, spawn, and on to the next one.

Unfortunately, tie up another female BEFORE they recharge.
So, functionally, shooting blanks.
So that pairing is low/ no yield, and that females reproductive potential wasted as well.

So shortage of males available to spawn, successfully, may be more of an issue than the over harvest of females.

Never heard much about it since publication.

Maybe....
But having less females to make a better spawn and lead to a higher population seems flawed to me.

 

[DaveP]

Maybe....
But having less females to make a better spawn and lead to a higher population seems flawed to me.

Sorry I wasn't clear.

Stopping female harvest alone will NOT help pop, IF males/ sperm is what is limiting them.

Need a simultaneous increase in male pop as well, to successfully service those females.

 

[remrug]

Sorry I wasn't clear.

Stopping female harvest alone will NOT help pop, IF males/ sperm is what is limiting them.

Need a simultaneous increase in male pop as well, to successfully service those females.

Gotcha
I still think female crab should be off limits for sportsmen and commercial harvest until numbers are back where they should be. They are cutting back on the limits for male crabs, hope that begins to help the population.
The blue cat explosion definitely worries me for the bay area for crabs, all other fish, clams and oysters.

 

[Huckleberry]

Just hope Virginia keeps their Crab Dredging Season Closed Permanently

Let the damn crabs hibernate and sleep peaceful down in the mud till Spring.

Damn Virginia Watermen have been wrecking the Bay’s Crab, Oyster and Fish populations for not just decades but centuries.

They’re the reason the MD Oyster Navy was created then became the DNR

 

[tdt91]

The Environmental impact of industrial farming and Commercial fishing, both the food source (menhaden) and direct fishing IS 90% of the problem.
Politicians are to spineless to address the actual problem. Look at crime,, EVERYONE knows what the problem is,, but they restrict the law abiding person and leave the real problem unaddressed.

Basically, follow the Money. Crime = $ in Defense Attorney pockets.
Big business lobbyists = $ in politician's pockets.
Politicians doing the right thing = less money in their pockets.
Most Politicians are Lawyers.

 

[Uncle Duke]

I cant comprehend why they allow any females crabs to be kept at all.

How much per dozen?

Follow the money. We can start and stop right there.

 

[Huckleberry]

I cant comprehend why they allow any females crabs to be kept at all.

Female crabs have sweeter, more flavorful meat for the packing houses

 

[ravens52]

Just hope Virginia keeps their Crab Dredging Season Closed Permanently

Let the damn crabs hibernate and sleep peaceful down in the mud till Spring.

Damn Virginia Watermen have been wrecking the Bay’s Crab, Oyster and Fish populations for not just decades but centuries.

They’re the reason the MD Oyster Navy was created then became the DNR

Agreed. I can’t believe they allowed dredging of sponge crabs for as long as they did.

 

[hobiecat590]

How much per dozen?

Follow the money. We can start and stop right there.

1/3 the price of Jimmy's. 2/3 the meat per crab.

The Omega bastards by catch also includes gamefish along w/ menhaden that also happen to be filter feeders that help clean the bay like oysters. I wonder how many Rocks and Blues etc. are killed by these folks for cat food.

Chris Dollar on the outdoors: Omega protein continues to wreak havoc on Chesapeake Bay ecosystem | COMMENTARY

Outdoors columnist Chris D. Dollar writes about the "unmitigated environmental disaster" recently caused by Omega Protein. One of Omega's purse seine nets ensnared a large school of red drum while trying to catch menhaden and hundreds of fish were killed as a result.

www.capitalgazette.com

 

[Mark75H]

Female crab muscle cells are smaller, making them much harder to pick. More time, less meat, less value to the picking house.

 

[gtodave]

For those complaining about DNR: you should know that DNR has not made a real decision on policy for 8 years now. Hogan controlled all of that. Top positions at DNR were scrapped all around, and a more direct line was made from top to bottom. DNR could not even release a report without Hogan's team's input, and they often changed things in the reports. And Hogan favored the watermen, so decisions went their way. I have a feeling the new administration will be different, and some of you might get what you want.

Female crabs have sweeter, more flavorful meat for the packing houses

That's the opposite. Sooks dont taste near as good as males.

 

[Huckleberry]

That's the opposite. Sooks dont taste near as good as males.

Females spend more time in saltier water, their meat is more denser and the roe makes all the difference

Been known and documented.

Visit a packing house or read then do your own research but none of that machine picked or awful foreign meat.

And yes, Chesapeake Blue Crab tastes better than crab caught from Carolina to Texas. Bunch of crab boiling degenerates down there.

I lend you my copy but it has gotten a little dog eared and yellowed over the last 45 years or so but its’ still good enough for my annual reading.

 

[Afrikeber]

While up in Portland, Maine this past summer I heard the locals complaining about the lobster moving further up north and a sudden population of blue crabs coming in.

 

[Derwood]

Agreed with the above regarding catch limits; Virginia sook harvest; Omega; and scoundrels. One additional culprit: the unending dumping of raw sewage from Back River wastewater treatment plant in Baltimore. This contributes to algae blooms that starve the Bay of oxygen and thus kill anything that can't move (oysters) and push out anything that can.

I've noticed a significant increase in water quality, crab populations and ducks in the local tributary I fish/crab after the introduction of large oyster farms. Oysters make a huge difference.

I've read Beautiful Swimmers twice. Such a wonderful book. I also recommend "Chesapeake Requiem" and "The Big Oyster"

 

[Skins_Brew]

For what it is worth, they implemented the one bushel / boat for recs rule in July of 2022 after the dredge report came out, so basically, they are sticking to that for the first half of the 2023 season. They will likely reassess after the 2023 dredge report, but I doubt they will go back to two bushels / boat for recs.

I started crabbing recreationally about three years ago, so I don't have a ton of experience. But, with that said, we jumped right into trotlining and got good at it, found the best spots, etc. pretty quick. Usually try to go crabbing once a week from mid June- Oct., and I can honestly say, there have maybe been 3 or 4 times when I could have or have racked up more than a bushel. The bite has to be really on for me to press on past a bushel, because generally, at that point, I am spent. Maybe twice there have been days, usually in September or October, where it is just bat shit bananas and I could have racked up two bushels in two hours.

Every river is different, but on the Rhode River, you would be pretty hard pressed to get a bushel before July anyway (as a rec with 1200' of line).

They did implement some additional rules for the commercial guys last year, but yea, in general, I don't get how limiting the rec harvest is going to have much of an impact. Maybe put more limits on the comm guys and start paying them to catch blue cats. I wouldn't mind DNR weeding out the comm licenses who are not actually commercial watermen either. I have seen plenty of people out there who have comm numbers but are not actually commercial crabbers. They either stumbled upon or inherited a comm license, which lets them get around some of the rules. Hell, if I had the money I would try to score a comm license, too, as it would let me start earlier.

 

[gtodave]

Every river is different, but on the Rhode River, you would be pretty hard pressed to get a bushel before July anyway (as a rec with 1200' of line).

I bet we've crossed paths out there. The Rhode is my go-to for boating days. We used to passively crab there (hand lines) and could get a couple dozen after a half a day, but the last 5 years or so have sucked. We don't even try to crab anymore.

 

[Skins_Brew]

I bet we've crossed paths out there. The Rhode is my go-to for boating days. We used to passively crab there (hand lines) and could get a couple dozen after a half a day, but the last 5 years or so have sucked. We don't even try to crab anymore.

You out of a marina on the Rhode ? We come out of holiday hill. If you see two fat guys in a camo painted 14' jon boat, come over and say hi.

We do ok on the Rhode for crabs, but generally you have to work your ass off. Looking forward to the celebratory island beer this summer

 

[gtodave]

You out of a marina on the Rhode ? We come out of holiday hill. If you see two fat guys in a camo painted 14' jon boat, come over and say hi.

We do ok on the Rhode for crabs, but generally you have to work your ass off. Looking forward to the celebratory island beer this summer

Same here...Holiday Hill. Didn't make it out much last year, but hope to this year. I'm sure I've seen you right outside of the creek working behind the big marina. If I remember this thread in 3-4 months, I'll drive on by. It'll be a little Sea Ray runabout with two dogs on it...we usually get an early start.