Blue Crabs Are Back in Chesapeake Bay

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Apr 21st 2010 @ 2:00PM

Government officials in Virginia and Maryland are ecstatic over reports showing the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population has rebounded as the result of a conservation program implemented in 2008.

A release from Va. Governor Bob McDonnell's office characterized the findings as "great news for everyone who enjoys genuine Chesapeake Bay crab cakes and she-crab soup."

According to a survey released last week, the population has spiked 60 percent since last year, bringing the total blue crab count to 658 million.

"We had anticipated a bit of an improvement, but we saw these results and went 'wow'," Virginia Marine Resources Commission spokesman John Bull says. "We thought we were going in the right direction, but this far surpassed our expectations." Bull says experts are most excited about the number of juvenile crabs researchers found: The latest baby boom represents the biggest new generation of blue crabs since 1997, a statistic that bodes well for the future.

But Bull stresses he and his colleagues aren't yet ready to stage a victory crab cake feast: Blue crabs begin life at sea as microscopic larvae, dependent on currents to return them to the bay. "If we get a bad storm at a bad time, hundreds of millions of baby crabs don't get washed back," Bull explains, citing decades-old examples of abundant years followed by devastation.

"I'm hesitant to put a hard and fast number on it, but when we can keep the population around 800 million for three years in a row, we'll be more forceful in believing we've accomplished our mission," he says.

Blue crab stocks had declined to such low levels by 2008 that the U.S. Department of Commerce declared the fishery a federal disaster area. Still, crabbers largely resisted rebuilding measures, which included the elimination of winter dredging.

"We heard from hundreds of commercial crabbers at out commission meetings," Bull recalls. "One after another would get up to say this would mean they'd never work again. They said only God can make crabs, and nothing we did would make a damn bit of difference. They said their children would starve and the banks would foreclose on their houses."

Bull says he hasn't heard much from the crabbers since the resurgence was announced. "We have a commission meeting next week, and I betcha we don't see more than five or ten of them," he says.

Filed Under: Food News, News
Tags: blue crabs, BlueCrabs, Maryland crabs

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Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)

4-25-2010 @3:03PM larry said... Only God can make crabs....................If we paid attention to these uneducated religious anti-science nuts when they are babbeling about conservation or anything else scientists look into we would will be livng in a third world country...............
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4-25-2010 @3:28PM rick said... perfect timing for these results when md and va need money so bad.....you can bet the price of crabs in md will not drop a dime because the state is bankrupt thanks to that liberal azz hole martina omalley....i dont believe theres an increase in the amount of crabs nor that there ever was a decrease in the population....its all a money thing
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4-25-2010 @3:47PM lisa said... paper towel, cracker, picker, salt shaker, 1/2 dozen blues........nirvana
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4-26-2010 @8:55AM tom said... You forgot one thing...ice cold beer!

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4-25-2010 @8:56PM Margi said... Not sure how the population is up due to VA crabbers...I go there on vacation every year and go to the docks when the commercial crabbers come in. I couldn't believe my eyes when we tried to buy a bushel....each boat had 60 + bushels of ALL female crabs FULL of eggs, YES FULL OF EGGS! Please explain to me how this is conservation and how this helps the crab population?
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