Maryland Sets First-Ever Limits On Chesapeake Blue Crab Harvests

For the first time, Maryland will set limits on how many male blue crabs can be harvested daily in the Chesapeake Bay, as the population reaches its lowest level in decades, after years of steady decline that have caused prices of the staple dish to rise.

The state’s Department of Natural Resources released updated regulations this week, restricting how many crabs can be brought in by commercial and recreational boats. Commercial fishers will be limited to at most, 15 bushels of male crabs a day in August and September, and the harvest season will end on Nov. 30, two weeks early. (A bushel usually contains about 5.5 dozen large crabs, or between 6-7 dozen medium or small crabs.) Recreational licensed fishing boats will be limited to one bushel of male crabs a day starting on July 1.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission also announced this week that it would be imposing restrictions on daily hauls of blue crabs, and would be shortening the harvest season.

The new regulations follow the findings of the 2022 Blue Crab Winter Drudge Survey, which showed a drastic decline in the crab population in recent years, after a slight increase in the mid-2010s. An estimated 227 million crabs currently live in the Chesapeake and its tributaries — a population nearly cut in half since 2019, when it was estimated to be 600 million. Environmentalists attribute the shortage not just to overharvesting, but also pollution, the destruction of habitats, and other natural factors like invasive species.

And as the crabs suffer — so do the wallets of those who buy, cook, or eat them. As the population has dwindled over the past three years, the price of the crabs has gone up, forcing local restaurateurs and sellers to make tough decisions.

This marks the first time that the state has taken such a concentrated effort to mitigate population decline. While officials have never restricted male harvesting before, they do normally place limits on female crabs in order to keep up reproduction levels.

“These modest changes to crab harvest limits will help ensure harvest rates do not exceed levels that could threaten the crab population,” said Allison Colden, the Maryland senior fisheries scientist at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “And, for the first time ever, Maryland is placing bushel limits on male crabs in a change that underscores the need to boost overall reproduction.”

Colden said scientists need to conduct comprehensive research into the factors that may be contributing to the diminishing population — a problem not just for the humans who enjoy the crabs, but for the entire ecosystem of the bay. Blue crabs, given the name for their bright blue claws, normally hang out in the underwater grass beds of the bay, feeding on mussels, oysters, decaying plant and animal matter, and other small crustaceans. As a crucial part of the food chain in the bay, the crabs are preyed on by larger fish and birds.

The acreage of underwater grass in the Chesapeake has declined recently (a result of higher water temperature and extreme storms), which could explain some of the crab crisis — but other elements like weather, predation, and reproductive success also need to be taken into account.