New Crab restrictions out this week. Rumor has it

[rdbeard]

 Good morning joe.anyrec. who catches 5 bu a week is'nt eating them all so he won't buy my crabs anyway, besides i can't fill all my orders now so i don't want his biz. i made sugjestions on reducing overall catch,com. and rec. we seem to agree on the sook problem any how. i'll do what ever they come up with like everyone else. as for the out of state thing ,i can remember a crabber had to crab in the waters of the county were he lived thats why i brought it up not a personal atack on you whichis what your post sounds like. like i said somthings got to give and i 'm sure we'll all have to bite the bullet. SS

[marysue1227]

Sure, let's get a Gov't grant and spend some time raising and releasing crabs, lots of them. Will it help??? After the millions of dollars spent on think tanks and research, this might be well spent money, ours!

This was done once, why didn't it continue?

It is still being done by the University of Maryland. They cut the funding for it just as they said they are about to have a "break through". The funding was cut almost completely. I think this is something that is gonna need private funding. The only way that anything really gets done anyway is through the private sector.When you actually have someone who wants to know where their money is going to and wants to see results for the money they spend things get done. You are never gonna get that with the government. That is one thing that I think we Americans need to realize. It is always better to let the private sector do something when it is possible. They will always do it better and cheaper. IMO

[jrccrab]

How true, MarySue!!

[crabbygramps]

 If all the resolutions and regulations that are added to the crabbing industry as a whole..( rec. comm. etc. ) are adhered to and abided by for said prescribed amount of time, and their is still a decline in the crab population and harvest. Can we expect those who have been running this program to step up and take responsibility for a job completely run by incompetents and "step down". Or will it take another14 years of funding and guess work. I don't think I have 14 years left to wait...for the Chesapeake or Barnegat or any other bay or any other group of misfits to do that which they know nothing about. Except get the people, (recs. and comms.)  and population in general, finger pointing and screaming at each other. Said it before, will repeat myself...."crabbers problem....crabbers should solve it. Need a bigger voice!!!

[Seaweed]

All good points crabbygramps.  Hopefully this Task Force that has been assembled will figure how to properly manage the species in the bay.  I think a big problem with species management has been management of single species at a time... i.e., management of species already in trouble.  the squeaky wheel gets the grease sort of thing.  I don't have the answers, but perhaps management of the biosystem as a whole will gets things back on track.  All the species are there for a reason, and they're all supposed to live in harmony and keep each other in check, so if only one species is managed, the effect can be positive for one species, and detrimental to others.  An example would be rockfish and crabs... yeah, the rockfish were "managed" back to health and increased stock numbers, but now the crabs are in the toilet... and there is an obvious link between increased rockfish population and a decreased juvenile crab population... rockfish eat the [Sam Hill] out of little crabs   And now we also have problems with mehaden reduction causing the rockfish to starve, so they've (supposedly) turned to eating gray trout and more crabs... my point is that I don't think you can impose catch limits on one species and expect everything to great with everything else.

I sure hope for the sake of everyone and every fish that the Task Force looks past the political BS and redtape and makes some hard decisions on what going to be best... best in terms of keeping all the fish and crabs we love to catch in the bay for a long, long time.   Its made up of everyone from watermen to scientists and everyone in between, so hopefully their net effort is in a postive direction.

[Summertop]

I crab three states... Do I get three "says" 11

No just one (Pa), see what you can do to get this passed, and rid the opposition of your state to clean the main feeder to the bay.  So that toilet of a river (Susky) becomes a clean flush into the bay.

http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19249202&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6

[crabbygramps]

No just one (Pa), see what you can do to get this passed, and rid the opposition of your state to clean the main feeder to the bay.  So that toilet of a river (Susky) becomes a clean flush into the bay.

http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19249202&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6

  Have already been in touch with State Rep. Melio and State Senator Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson who have informed me that my personal feelings on the matter have been passed along to the proper state authorities and have been in contact with my local State conservation officers from both Bucks and Bradford county ( I have land in both) and asked for any co-operation that benefits the Chesapeake water shed.. If I can find more support or influence, they to will be made known to my beliefs!!!! I am talking about the East, and West branch of the "Susky"

[anchor]

crabtime, if you ever looked at the numbers, the pollutants that are in the susky river are within most of  the limits. if you care not to believe this contact henpot from this site he is a waste water certified tech with the state and if you wanna complain about trash water and a toilet as you call it head to baltimore and look at the potapsco(spelling) you wanna talk about a sewage treatment plant!

[ran_c]

lots of give and take here i see. everyone wants things to change but they aren't willing to give something up. i am commercial and think that commercial guys should get more consideration cause this is how we feed our families. say a rec has a job at an office and the paper delivery guy has to go down the same street as you do on your way to work and he needs the street just as much as you. what if he said that you should take a day off to allow him more access to the road.......would you be willing to give up a day of work so someone else could have easier access to something?.....i think not......this is just my opinion so let the flaming begin

[madcrabber1113]

The only problem with that is we all own the resource.In business you must adapt to the conditions.

[catchincrabs]

Time for my 2 cents. I am a comm. I crab from the Bohemia to the Virginia line at any given time depending on where the crabs are. The Susquehanna river is a huge contributor of pollution to the Chesapeake. Look at all of the [curd] that comes thru the dam at holtwood and ends up at connowingo. (this is one factor that hurts water quality and fish and crabs)New York isnt going to do anything to clean it up unless all of the states that it's affecting downstream put a lawsuit on them to make them clean up their act (TELL ME HOW TO GET THAT DONE) The patapsco in Baltimore isn't nearly as bad as it used to be(still could be better) Dredging crabs in Va. (THIS NEEDS TO STOP) Let them pot or trotline, Crab scrapes in Maryland (THIS NEEDS TO STOP) Dredging and scraping kill to many crabs that we all are trying to catch. They need to limit the harvest of females in august and september (IN ALL STATES FOR ALL CRABBERS) Make the fines absolutely horrifying for anyone possesing or selling them (EVEN the crabhouses no matter where they were caught no girls)  If some of the things mentioned above aren't done we are going to hear a word none of us are going to like MORATOURIUM. Okay so that was my dollars worth and I don't care who I may have P.O'd    CC.

[Seanile]

CC:

I'll agree with all your points, except 1.  PA is making attempts to deal with the problem, the link below will offer some in-depth information.

Here's a copy of Henpot's post on a similar topic:

There may be a little more going than you are aware of.  The water quality of the Susquehanna River has improved, unfortunately not as rapidly as hoped by some.  But there are improvements, several of the past years quality results are side noted due climate conditions (drought conditions/flood conditions) and may have actually resulted in more postitive water quality results for the year.
      I do posses a PA Waste Water Liscense and can assure you that discharge limits of heavy metals, nutrients, phosphates and the like, have definitely shrank here is PA.  The results will not be immediate, and the cause has been going on since peoples settlement on and around the Chesapeake.  Unfortunatley, the water has always been the easiest and cheapest way to dispose of peoples waste.
      I included a link to a PA DEP's site concerning the Chesapeake Bay.

      http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/chesapeake/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=442893

[catchincrabs]

CC:

I'll agree with all your points, except 1.  PA is making attempts to deal with the problem, the link below will offer some in-depth information.

Here's a copy of Henpot's post on a similar topic:

There may be a little more going than you are aware of.  The water quality of the Susquehanna River has improved, unfortunately not as rapidly as hoped by some.  But there are improvements, several of the past years quality results are side noted due climate conditions (drought conditions/flood conditions) and may have actually resulted in more postitive water quality results for the year.
      I do posses a PA Waste Water Liscense and can assure you that discharge limits of heavy metals, nutrients, phosphates and the like, have definitely shrank here is PA.  The results will not be immediate, and the cause has been going on since peoples settlement on and around the Chesapeake.  Unfortunatley, the water has always been the easiest and cheapest way to dispose of peoples waste.
      I included a link to a PA DEP's site concerning the Chesapeake Bay.

      http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/chesapeake/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=442893

Good information seanile. can any one else shoot me down on any other parts of my post? if they can I will remove it also.CC

[HenPot]

Time for my 2 cents. I am a comm. I crab from the Bohemia to the Virginia line at any given time depending on where the crabs are. The Susquehanna river is a huge contributor of pollution to the Chesapeake. Look at all of the [curd] that comes thru the dam at holtwood and ends up at connowingo. (this is one factor that hurts water quality and fish and crabs)New York isnt going to do anything to clean it up unless all of the states that it's affecting downstream put a lawsuit on them to make them clean up their act (TELL ME HOW TO GET THAT DONE) The patapsco in Baltimore isn't nearly as bad as it used to be(still could be better) Dredging crabs in Va. (THIS NEEDS TO STOP) Let them pot or trotline, Crab scrapes in Maryland (THIS NEEDS TO STOP) Dredging and scraping kill to many crabs that we all are trying to catch. They need to limit the harvest of females in august and september (IN ALL STATES FOR ALL CRABBERS) Make the fines absolutely horrifying for anyone possesing or selling them (EVEN the crabhouses no matter where they were caught no girls)  If some of the things mentioned above aren't done we are going to hear a word none of us are going to like MORATOURIUM. Okay so that was my dollars worth and I don't care who I may have P.O'd    CC.

CC,
     There is improvement................but you need to look at what eactly improvement is.  Unfortunately, in some cases, improvement at best can only be keeping the status quo.  You and I will most likely never see the Chesapeake like it was 25 years ago, and neither of us will ever live long enough to see it, like it was 50 years ago.  History has just put too much in the water shed, for Mother Nature to be able to fix as fast as we would like.  What ever we do, you need to understand, we are not fixing it for us, maybe our kids, hopefully our grandkids, but probably more for great grand kids.
     Some areas are prone to quicker rebounds, and some will take quiet a bit longer.   

Here is a brief clip from a US Geological Service site explaining a small part of this:

How Is Nutrient-Pollution Reduction Being Determined?
Water samples are collected from the Bay's nine largest tributaries to evaluate pollution-reduction strategies and to determine whether the goal of a 40-percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus is being met. The water samples are analyzed to determine the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in each river. These concentration data are used along with continuous streamflow data collected at USGS stream-gaging stations on each tributary to estimate the total amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus transported each year to the Bay. Continuous monitoring provides a method to identify changes in concentrations and amounts of nutrients that have occurred over the years in response to pollution-reduction programs.

Are the Steps Taken to Reduce Nutrient Pollution Working?
Pollution-reduction measures are evaluated by comparing concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in water samples that have been collected for a long period of time. If reduction measures are working, then nutrient pollution should decrease. Water samples from 1985 to 1993 show a general decrease in phosphorus levels and a general increase in nitrogen levels (fig. 1).
Pollution-reduction strategies are having a positive impact on phosphorus levels in the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and the Patuxent Rivers. Controls directed at reducing agricultural and urban erosion also contribute to the lower phosphorus levels seen in these tributaries.

Despite the success of phosphorus-reduction efforts in the Susquehanna, the Potomac, and the Patuxent Rivers, nitrogen is increasing in the Susquehanna and the Potomac Rivers, although the data indicate that the rate of increase has slowed significantly. The increase in nitrogen is probably caused by the continued use of nitrogen fertilizer on lawns and cropland, growing agricultural animal populations and associated wastes, and atmospheric deposition of nitrogen from industrial and automotive air pollution. Much of the nitrogen from these sources dissolves in water and slowly moves underground through the soil and into the ground water, where it discharges into rivers and eventually the Bay. The effect of nitrogen reduction may take decades to see because of the slow movement of nitrogen in the ground water. As a result, the effect of nitrogen-control efforts will take much longer to appear in the rivers than the effects of controlling phosphorus, which is attached to soil particles and is transported primarily in surface-water runoff. In the case of the Patuxent River, nitrogen is decreasing primarily because of improved technology at the eight major sewage-treatment plants that discharge to the river.

Although progress has been made in reducing phosphorus and nitrogen in some rivers, continued reductions will have to be made to offset increases in population growth in the Chesapeake Bay Basin. Continued water-quality monitoring of the rivers will be needed to assess the effectiveness of new technology and strategies aimed at reducing nutrient pollution, thereby restoring the economic, commercial, and recreational productivity of Chesapeake Bay.

[R D]

Time for my 2 cents.  They need to limit the harvest of females in august and september (IN ALL STATES FOR ALL CRABBERS) Make the fines absolutely horrifying for anyone possesing or selling them (EVEN the crabhouses no matter where they were caught no girls)  If some of the things mentioned above aren't done we are going to hear a word none of us are going to like MORATOURIUM. Okay so that was my dollars worth and I don't care who I may have P.O'd    CC.

You are welcome to keep your yankee assed 2 cents worth to your self when it comes to the south and our crabs,I can tell by your posts that what you know about crabs I forgot about because it wasn't worth remembering,you live and work in a cess pool,ENJOY AND LEAVE US OUT OF IT.

[genecrabman]

Time for my 2 cents. I am a comm. I crab from the Bohemia to the Virginia line at any given time depending on where the crabs are. The Susquehanna river is a huge contributor of pollution to the Chesapeake. Look at all of the [curd] that comes thru the dam at holtwood and ends up at connowingo. (this is one factor that hurts water quality and fish and crabs)New York isnt going to do anything to clean it up unless all of the states that it's affecting downstream put a lawsuit on them to make them clean up their act (TELL ME HOW TO GET THAT DONE) The patapsco in Baltimore isn't nearly as bad as it used to be(still could be better) Dredging crabs in Va. (THIS NEEDS TO STOP) Let them pot or trotline, Crab scrapes in Maryland (THIS NEEDS TO STOP) Dredging and scraping kill to many crabs that we all are trying to catch. They need to limit the harvest of females in august and september (IN ALL STATES FOR ALL CRABBERS) Make the fines absolutely horrifying for anyone possesing or selling them (EVEN the crabhouses no matter where they were caught no girls)  If some of the things mentioned above aren't done we are going to hear a word none of us are going to like MORATOURIUM. Okay so that was my dollars worth and I don't care who I may have P.O'd    CC.

Yep!!!!

[tattoo]

 

[Summertop]

crabtime, if you ever looked at the numbers, the pollutants that are in the susky river are within most of  the limits. if you care not to believe this contact henpot from this site he is a waste water certified tech with the state and if you wanna complain about trash water and a toilet as you call it head to baltimore and look at the potapsco(spelling) you wanna talk about a sewage treatment plant!

http://water.usgs.gov/wid/html/chesbay.html

This is a interesting read.


The largest amount of nitrogen entering the Bay is contributed by the Susquehanna River, which drains some of the most productive agricultural land in the Nation. The sources of nutrient pollution from agricultural land are fertilizer and animal waste. In general, the amount
of nitrogen entering the Bay from each tributary is related to the area of agricultural land drained by that tributary and its contribution of water to the Bay.

[catchincrabs]

Looks like I po'd R.D but as I said I don't care. My post didn't single out the south R.D. If you dont have any constructive input don't bother posting here. Yours and several others replies belong in jokes and humor. Thanks for the constructive input. Henpot. CC

[Pinchy]

They need to limit the harvest of females in august and september (IN ALL STATES FOR ALL CRABBERS) Make the fines absolutely horrifying for anyone possesing or selling them (EVEN the crabhouses no matter where they were caught no girls)...

I, and probably other thinking persons, would like you to provide a single shred of evidence for this assertion. Why do you imagine (and that's all you are doing, relying on emotional and fanciful guessing) that the blue crab reproduction rate is the limiting factor in its population ecology?

[catchincrabs]

Females are in there highest numbers in maryland and virginina in august and september and since there isn't a single reliable source that can be absolutley sure when a female reproduces it would only make sense to let them be to breed if they so choose. When the females come on in large numbers there price has been as low as $18.00 a bushel. Just added my input. Add yours on the TOPIC at hand and not kill everyone else that does.

[HenPot]

http://water.usgs.gov/wid/html/chesbay.html

This is a interesting read.


The largest amount of nitrogen entering the Bay is contributed by the Susquehanna River, which drains some of the most productive agricultural land in the Nation. The sources of nutrient pollution from agricultural land are fertilizer and animal waste. In general, the amount
of nitrogen entering the Bay from each tributary is related to the area of agricultural land drained by that tributary and its contribution of water to the Bay.

Considering the the Susquehanna River is the lagest of all the watersheds feeding the bay, and supplies over half of the fresh water going into the bay, YES it does contribute the most nitrogen to the bay. 

Gallon per gallon, there is less nitrogen in Susquehanna water than several MD and VA rivers feeding the bay.  They just generate less volume than the Susquehanna, therefore they generate less total nitrogen.  It does not mean they are cleaner than the Susquehanna, just smaller!

[jack1747]

 "It isn't until late September or October that she will begin her migration to the lower Chesapeake Bay to spawn. The "pregnant" females that survive the gauntlet of crabpots, scrapes, trotlines and dredges will usually spawn for the first time the following season since they reach the spawning grounds late in the season. In other words sooks won't release any eggs until approximately 2-9 months after mating, usually May-August the next season.

"The purpose of the original 146-square mile sanctuary (adopted by the General Assembly in 1942) was to relieve harvest pressure on female blue crabs during peak spawning times (June 1–September 15)." (PS:The Sanctuary has been expanded a few times since 1942)

"The sanctuary does afford protection to female crabs.  Currently, harvest within the sanctuary is prohibited from June 1 through September 15.  As there is spawning activity in May, the harvest prohibition should extend from May 15 through September 15.  Alternatively, since there is a high percentage of mature, legal females harvested from the Hampton Roads area, female mortality rates could be reduced by other conservation measures aimed at females prior to or during their migration to the spawning sanctuary, including sanctuary modifications."

[R D]

Looks like I po'd R.D but as I said I don't care. My post didn't single out the south R.D. If you dont have any constructive input don't bother posting here. Yours and several others replies belong in jokes and humor. Thanks for the constructive input. Henpot. CC

As this thread has "Rumor" in the title that makes it a BS thread and you posted the first "joke"

Females are in there highest numbers in maryland and virginina in august and september and since there isn't a single reliable source that can be absolutley sure when a female reproduces it would only make sense to let them be to breed if they so choose. When the females come on in large numbers there price has been as low as $18.00 a bushel. Just added my input. Add yours on the TOPIC at hand and not kill everyone else that does.

The majority of your females BREED in April when you may have 10% of your males out of the mud to breed with them and a lot of the males are small and inferior meaning that a lot of females don't get mated or only enough for one small clutch of eggs instead of spawning twice with full clutches.
Dam, I can't believe I'm doing it again a wise man said "never argue with a fool because people may not be able to tell the difference"
I really do hope y'all get plenty of rain up there so there are plenty of crabs and even the "crab experts" can catch some.

[Pinchy]

The majority of your females BREED in April...

Thank you RD for the cold facts in opposition to fanciful imaginings. If "catchincrabs" had the slightest familiarity with his alleged prey, he would know that females carrying egg sacs are common in April/May, and vanishingly rare later in the season. That's because crabs, like most arthropods, lay early in the warm months to give their brood a lengthy opportunity to grow before winter - and concommitant food & energy scarcity - set in. Sometimes I wonder whether many of the folks spouting opinions here have even seen a live blue crab.