Estimated 2007 Blue Crab Harvest Down

[The Maverick]

Yikes.....

"ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A new state estimate said that the blue crab harvest in Maryland dropped by 6 million pounds last year compared to the year before and was only slightly above the state's lowest recorded harvest in 2000."

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/15213944/detail.html

[tattoo]

Thanks for that news.

[STRO]

Mav,

I just finished reading the article, I am headed for the fridge for another cold one to drown my sorrows. Lets hope she picks up next summer, my crabbing last summer reflected what the report stated. Let's keep our chins up.

Stro

[Rock Run Crabber]

 Not good news. I would guess this news will be reflected in 2008 rec.Regs.

[tattoo]

Who knows , it seabs crabbing runs in cycles. i can rember in the 90 it wasn't good , then the past few years it was, you just never know , but it is still fun just to go out on the warter. 

[CrabManJoe]

The Baltimore Sun ran an article today.  Bummer news, but there are always swings in the population.  Just got to get out there and have fun on the water.  I think the most important thing that we can do is to always toss back the females (and refuse to buy them), no matter how tempting it is to get an extra few in the bushel basket.  Letting them migrate and spawn will go a long way to helping restore the numbers.  We may never see $25 bushels again, but we can at least be hopeful!

[The Maverick]

Not good news. I would guess this news will be reflected in 2008 rec.Regs.

x2. I am curious to see the out come of O'Malley's decision to  "direct the DNR to develop blue crab management strategies." Interesting... very interesting. I agree with throwing back the females, I typically do that myself, but I'll admit, I've kept a few here and there. I agree with the researcher who stated that this could all be due to the drought we had this past summer and the quality of the water. I live on Rock Creek and we experienced a massive "fish kill" which is due to the lack of oxygen in the rivers caused by the lack of rain.

STRO, That's the best attitude we can have. It is what it is, I'm just happy to be out there enjoying one of Maryland's best natural resources. Let's just hope that resource can get resourceful again, soon.

[Gebman52]

The increase in Rockfish population doesn't help the crabs.

[rjhornet7]

Can I propose a question ?    I know we have all these regulations concerning the Male and its legal size,  trust me when I say I have been stopped more than once on the South River by DNR,  but can someone tell me if we are in so much trouble with the harvest,   why is it you can go to any store and by FEMALES, and Little ones    If they have all this data that females lay 10,000 eggs at a time,   why are we allowed to catch female crabs

 just confused   any help ??

[genecrabman]

Can I propose a question ?    I know we have all these regulations concerning the Male and its legal size,  trust me when I say I have been stopped more than once on the South River by DNR,  but can someone tell me if we are in so much trouble with the harvest,   why is it you can go to any store and by FEMALES, and Little ones    If they have all this data that females lay 10,000 eggs at a time,   why are we allowed to catch female crabs

 just confused   any help ??

Females lay Millions of eggs,  And without the males they lay NONE... Forget about the science ;)Catch all you can when you can and have fun...

[Pinchy]

Females lay Millions of eggs,  And without the males they lay NONE... Forget about the science Catch all you can when you can and have fun...

You're mostly right. Crabs are like any other arthropod, highly efficient in reproduction. Females mate once, and can store the sperm for two or more spawnings. Each female lays between several hundred thousand and 8 million eggs per spawn. By the time you catch and keep a legal-size female, she has most likely already laid millions of eggs. The males can mate with many females, so by the time you keep that 7" jimmy he has already been very busy. There is absolutely no impact on crab reproduction by keeping females per se.

That said, it's not very wise to "forget about the science" because there are harvest and other environmental pressures on the Chesapeake which need reasonable regulation.

[jack1747]

Females mate once, and can store the sperm for two or more spawnings. Each female lays between several hundred thousand and 8 million eggs per spawn. By the time you catch and keep a legal-size female, she has most likely already laid millions of eggs.

COMB has documented up to 8 clutches of eggs from a single breeding.  Plus if you catch a sook anywhere but in the breeding grounds, she has not laid any eggs that survived.

[Pinchy]

COMB has documented up to 8 clutches of eggs from a single breeding.  Plus if you catch a sook anywhere but in the breeding grounds, she has not laid any eggs that survived.

Last year I caught some whopping big females in NJ in the creeks. Why isn't is possible that they bred and laid eggs the previous year, and migrated back up the creeks the following year to where I caught and kept them?

[jack1747]

Last year I caught some whopping big females in NJ in the creeks. Why isn't is possible that they bred and laid eggs the previous year, and migrated back up the creeks the following year to where I caught and kept them?

cause my Grandfather told me so.    Also things like this, http://serc.si.edu/labs/fish_invert_ecology/bluecrab/migration.jsp 

[tattoo]

granpaw knows best. 

[Pinchy]

http://serc.si.edu/labs/fish_invert_ecology/bluecrab/migration.jsp 

Thanks for this great link. From the article, "...After spawning, many females use flood tides to return to the lower estuary, where they may produce subsequent broods, but do not move back into lower salinity zones."

This explains why large post-brood females can be caught late in the NJ crabbing season. The salinity in the creeks, especially near their mouths is quite high due to very close proximity to the ocean; some creeks are only a mile or so away from the Barnegat Bay and Great Bay inlets. This is not the case in the Chesapeake upper estuary.

[tattoo]

 

[Billycrab]

As we look forward to this crabbing this coming year, all we can do is hope for the best and get out there and try. The boat ride alone is worth it for me. I'm sure Tatoo already has his parking spot at Rolph's reserved for this year once the Chester turns on around mid-July...

the only down-side is the early season trips further South will be painful if gas prices head upwards to $4/gal like predicted.

[tattoo]

I'm ready NOW. 

[Solow]

Thanks for this great link. From the article, "...After spawning, many females use flood tides to return to the lower estuary, where they may produce subsequent broods, but do not move back into lower salinity zones."

This explains why large post-brood females can be caught late in the NJ crabbing season. The salinity in the creeks, especially near their mouths is quite high due to very close proximity to the ocean; some creeks are only a mile or so away from the Barnegat Bay and Great Bay inlets. This is not the case in the Chesapeake upper estuary.

True: i caught some huge females too

[Billycrab]

Tat,

I'm sure I've driven by you while out crabbing the Chester last year or so...I'll make an effort to catch up with you sometime this year to plan a time when we'll both be out there and say hello. Sounds like we both have dropped bait in the same general vicinity. It's always good to learn from others while out on the water.

BC

[tattoo]

Thats grest . wheh i went on the chester this past year it was me and Beth, Hope to meet up with you this year,