Measures to preserve crab population proposed

[Dave]

BES wrote:

Female crabs can only reproduce one time in there lives. That is when they are going from immature to mature. The problem is in states like Virginia, crabbers are allowed to harvest female crabs with eggs. You can tell just by looking at the female that they have eggs attached to them. If they would pass a law to restict that them the population would rise. Commercial fisherman pay A LOT to havest crabs. The license alone ranges from $5,000 up and you have renewel fees every year. Let alone the boats they buy (and not for pleasure) cost from $35,000 or more. The gas prices, we all know to well how much that is. Think about it the crabbers are making a living but are not making loads of money. I see no need in having more fees just use common sense regarding harvesting of female crabs with eggs.

Actually, the first part of what you said isn't entirely true. Although female crabs will only mate once in their life, they can actually reproduce more than once. When crabs mate, the female will store the male's sperm until she's ready to create her sponge of eggs. After that first group of eggs leave her, she can actually create another sponge and do the same again, if she still has sperm left.

[Dave]

Some other thoughts...

Putting a flat out moratorium on harvesting isn't the answer because a crab's life cycle isn't that long, so you'll get a boost in the population in a few years, but unless you keep restrictions in place, the numbers will go down again once you start harvesting.

Additionally, its really easy for Maryland to say "Don't harvest those female crabs by dredging for them in winter" because most of the female crabs migrate south into Virginia during the winter, so Maryland making it illegal for crabbers to dredge and harvest female blue crabs didn't really affect the state in anyway but it would have a huge impact on Virginia's watermen, hence they don't prohibit it.

[George from Pasadena]

As a nothern bay commercial crabber I can tell you that the enforcement on the recreational crabber to obey the rule does not exist. They crab where and when they want with little or no reguard for the fishery or the investement of the commercial guy. Bodkin Creek is a good example of that. It's just like the wild west without a cop around. They even crab on Wednesdays and start when they want.

[Thanks DNR]

dave wrote:

What's your solution (Thanks DNR), other than blaming other people? And, I'm referring to a solution to the Bay's decline, not a solution to get cheaper crabs to you. Very productive!

Oh, I'm so sorry for stepping on your toes. My solution would be raise the size limits and shorten the season, how's that? Oops, wait a minute, the DNR tried that once by raising the limit a measly 1/4" for the second half of the year and the crabs continued to disappear, didn't they? How about raising the size limit up to 6" and put a moratorium on the females? It don't take a scientist to figure this one out.

[marybeth]

Virginia Rapes The Bay wrote:

Between dredging for crabs and industrial factory ships netting the striped bass forage fish the Stae of Virginia is raping the bay. The idea of harvesting pregnant female crabs (spongers) is outrageous to even the layman who knows nothing about lifecycles and capture limits. The cure to all of this is to bann the harvest of all sponge crabs and then let the Bay recover for 2-3 years.

spot on!!

[Ex Recreational Crabber]

The FIRST time the Annapolis geeks addressed the shortage, they put restrictions and fees on the recreational crabber. The commercial crabber was (still is) required to take 2 days off. Problem is that the crab pots in the water KEEP catching crabs so that legislation simply gave the crabbers 2 days off from emptying the traps when sales were slim at the beginning of the week.
It's been widely reported that OVER HARVESTING is the problem but the people in the legislature unfortunately do not have a clue. Putting the blame on recreational crabbers was the easy way out.
Male crabs stop eating (going into traps) during mating season but the female does not. The result are fat, meaty female crabs that don't carry any eggs. After mating, the females migrate to the warmer southern Bay to grow and hatch their eggs in the mud. This is why Virginia crabbers need to dredge. Maryland owns the Bay so I don't understand why the Legislature can't stop the dredging. Okay, maybe I can understand given the actions of Miller, Busch, and Owe'Malley.
The Sunpaper did a report on the oyster replenishment program in MD that the Feds were funding. Essentially, the Waterman's Association that was managing the program were telling everyone to dredge for oysters where they were just dumped for seeding. I think it's time for MD to stop subsidizing the watermen and put harvesting restrictions on THEM. If they loose their job, tough sh*t! Carpenters, plumbers, and others have not had the luxury of government protected careers as have the watermen. The watermen will come back when the Bay returns to healthy and there is a buck to be made. It will just be different people.
Finally, hasn't MD been sitting on $50M in funding for improving the Bay since last year? Now we hear from Owe'Malley that we should focus on Global Warming. Fix the Bay, fix the ocean and only then spend money on something even the proponents can't prove about the planet.

[Nabbs Creeker]

I think it's truly a shame to see females being sold AT ALL. Go anywhere away from the water and you see every Tom, Dick and Harry selling these females (and SMALL ones at that!!) for next to nothing. The problem didn't occur overnight and can't be fixed overnight either.

[Bearer of Truth]

Mary, you could do the crabs a favor and leave town.

Mary wrote:

The only thing is to prevent the over-consumption of crabs. If fishermen can't sell them, they won't harvest them. SIMPLE SOLUTION: Stop the all-you-can-eat crab buffets!! When my husband and I first moved here and learned about crabs we tried the AUCE but disliked the huge bunch put on our table and utlimately wasted and the cavalier oh-well attitude of the restaurants. Then we counted how many crabs we actually ate and found the two of us eat a dozen to 1.5 dozen. So, now we just order a dozen--which is A LOT cheaper and we're helping save all those wasted crabs.

[Ben]

Virginia has to F@$K up everything

[Ronne]

As a long time lover of steamed crabs I would hate to have restrictions, but it must be done. Our regions demands will for sure out grow the natural supply of crabs and we should make it dummy proof for all so its clear and very clear to inforce. Just do not harvest female grabs. There is many variables against the Blue crabs survival, but the one we can most easily impact is the harvesting of them.