Barely legal females

[horsefly]

What exactly is a "barely legal" female? 



In MD, a legal female is one of any size that is matured.  The law says it's legal for commercial watermen to harvest females that are matured.  Does it make someone bad because they take them when it is "legal"?  For some commercial watermen, due to the location, this is the bulk of the catch. 

Have you ever eaten any form of picked crabmeat out in public (restaurant) or ever bought a can of crabmeat from a retailer?  Sorry to say, but 99% of the time, it's female meat.   Just keep that in mind when you order your next crabcake, or stuffed flounder, or crab imperial. 

Bottom line, as long as it's legal and the law is followed, no one should be chastised or crucified for the harvest of them. 

Thankls CrabbyD for making clarifying that. That was gonna be my next post, but ya beat me to it. I guess some people think all commercial guys run amuck. Don't feel bad NADAPESCA(NO FISH) and MassCrab you're not the only guys who give comms a hard time......just read our local newspaper commentaries and they get bashed there too.

[R D]

As I sit here we are having a huge run of females offshore untouched,been going on for years now all summer long,these girls are getting to spawn by the millions.The watermen can't crab for them because the sea turtles and sharks that we have saved tear up our pots to the point it just isn't worth it.Even after years of these girls laying there eggs we just had the worst crabbing year in history in Fla because of no rain,finally in the last 6 weeks the rains have started and everytime we get a good rain crabbing picks up.We have the best water quailty here,plenty of seagrass and oysters so our crabs will get back to normal with the proper amount of rain,yours probably wont.it doesn't matter how much koolaid you pour into a jar of acid it will never make drinkable koolaid.You need good healthy seagrass and oysters in order to have good crabs.

[MassCrabbin]

Actually craabyd, I dont order crab out. But that's kind of beside the point.

I see what youre saying, but down in Jersey when we would go and buy crabs after a day of little catching (we ALWAYS throw back females) we would see bushels of basically female only catches from certain local shops.
(And yes RD, even a simple northern girl like me realizes that you need both to make babies)
But for every one male, there's another 400 to take his place to mate with a female. You take a female, and that's 1000 crabs youre taking from the populace.
And dont give me any replies about the survival status of each batch of eggs...it's not a literal number I'm talking about. It's the principal.

I also realize that with comm catching you can't exactly filter through and take out every female, it's unrealistic and even a little crazy to expect that. Maybe I should have specified earlier as to what I was referring to, and that is a lack of balance in the fishing/crabbing industry. My opinion is based soley on what me and my husband have seen locally in Jersey.
Now that we're in NH, we haven't heard any good news as far as crabbin goes 

[R D]

Got any of them wacky actors (reenactors) out there? Now's the time to get your kit together, polish them boots (yankees) sew them rags (butternut terrorists) swab them barrels, gonna have a little skirmish.

We fight the battle of Natural Bridge every March,out come is always the same,a bunch of young boys and old men ran the blue bellys through the swamp and back to the sea making Tallahassee the only southern capital not to fall.

[MassCrabbin]

Thanks RD, that probably explains why there's no blue's up here.....

 

[Pinchy]

And dont give me any replies about the survival status of each batch of eggs...it's not a literal number I'm talking about. It's the principal.

 My opinion is based soley on what me and my husband have seen locally in Jersey.
Now that we're in NH, we haven't heard any good news as far as crabbin goes 

Principal Skinner? The problem with your opinion, is that it doesn't take into account the principles of population ecology. You simply don't understand that adding more and more eggs or juveniles into a population doesn't necessarily increase the population. A well-managed herd, whether of crabs or deer or sheep must be controlled through harvesting and natural predation, or the whole population crashes. That's all I'll say because this concept is way over your head.

[R D]

It's the male population that is in trouble Masscrabbin they are the ones  everybody has been hammering for years and even though one male can breed with multipul females (reminds me of myself when I was younger but that another story)   there is not enouth good breeding stock left to do the job.There have been and still are plenty of females here and upthere.

[MassCrabbin]

Congrats m'Lord for knowing how to use "Google" lol

Like attracts like I guess, Ive never seen a "crabbier" group of folks since the Kotex convention.

haha I've done all I can here.

MC

[nadapesca]

I'd like to clarify something. I was under a New Jersey Forum, which means that I was writing of New Jersey. I don't know what's happening in Florida or the Carolinas. I hear a lot about MD and VA and their problems. But, the markets that stock in NJ and eastern PA are usually local (NJ) crabs.  When I see a big container that is filled with nothing but small females, and I hear the griping about no crabs, I have to wonder about the effect. That pertains to New Jersey waters. Pollution is blamed, but I'm not sure if it does that much. Read about the Newark Bay crabs. They're plentiful in a body of water that is so foul, harvesting is prohibited. So I asked a question. I did not flame or bash at first (as usual, the trigger happy rebs fired first). Anyway, the question stands, anybody got any info on the effects of taking large amounts of females? Since I catch primarily males (check my posts, I throw back very few females) but see many females in the stores, it seemed to be a valid question. I know that my own experience is a small part of the big picture and might very well be a fluke (that's another issue) but that's why I asked.

[masspi]

MassCrabbin.......................

I see that you are from New Hampshire, and am not sure where you crab now, but you will never see an abundance of crabs in your state.  Southern Massachusetts is about the limits of the range of the Blue Crab.  It does not mean that there isn't a population there, but is much more diminished than southern areas of New England.  I have seen a blue crab in the waters of Central Maine a few years ago.

So don't equate the diminished numbers you are seeing with New Jersey or Maryland...........The crabs are just not there.  Now even if you crab on the northshore of Massachusetts you will not find the numbers you will find in Southern areas.  The tidal rivers that flow into Buzzards Bay are an ideal area for Blue Crab and the population thrives.  There is some cyclic trends in my area, but they are usually small.

[Pinchy]

Congrats m'Lord for knowing how to use "Google" lol

For the record, I've studied this stuff and am capable of informed discourse and refutation. Are you? You ran away, I'm still here prepared and waiting to debate.

I've done all I can here.

Done what?

[MR CRAB]

[dang] RD you and Gene shoul have told me it was ON.  Where we gonna posse up?  Time to do this thing right .  THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN

[MR CRAB]

AGREE. 

c'mon Tat you don't agree with that bull, do you?

[MR CRAB]

We are 1 and 0!  Wanna shoot at Fort Sumpter again butthole? 

Any day.  If I was to make my screen name a chicken reference, I would go for "rooster"  not "hen"

[MassCrabbin]

Lol sorry Pinchy, apparently you felt the need to defend your Crab Scholerliness haha

Unlike SOME other people, I don't hang on here all day awaiting a debate. There are other websites for me to raise hackles on, bills to pay, crabs to eat (male of course) and you know...a life to live.

Or at least something like one

 

[R D]

Done what?






Jumped right out and put all commercial fishermen in a group that doesn't give a hoot about the very crabs we make our living off of,just what I need to do is catch the last one tomorrow so I can be out of work with 10s of thousands of dollars in gear sitting around that I can't use.It doesn't matter where you are,the vast majority of watermen do care a great deal and it's in our best intrests to want as many crabs in the water as possable.As in any profession we have a few who don't care and then some try to paint all watermen with that brush.

[masspi]

Ronnie,

I heard today that the Florida watermen are thinking of using low yeild nuclear explosions to force the crabs to the surface for easy dipping.

Any truth to it ?

[unclebuttsy]

Dear MassCrabbin,

Please refrain from speaking for those of us that live in the Bay State. It's not our fault that you live in Milford, New Hampshire. Good luck finding a crab, or anybody that will help point you towards one. Go have yourself a great season.

Also, anyone that knows anything about us Massholes is that we hate the Yankees...by all means...keep calling me redneck! haha...
sorry gene for hurting your internet feelings..
MC

Us Massholes?

[MassCrabbin]

If you're not a Masshole then I wasn't speaking for you now was I?

Take your knickers out of the twist deary...I'm having a bit of fun, thanks for the good luck!

MC

[jack1747]

ok, i'll bite... what is a masshole    and what does it have to do with sallies in NJ 

[MassCrabbin]

I don't think that ALL comm's are killing the crabbin btw RD Im sorry that I left that impression, I guess I should rephrase and say "Those We Do Not Speak Nicely Of" IE, peeps that just don't care, and are out there with no care as to how they may affect the environment or populace.

MC

[MassCrabbin]

Masshole...not referring to the anti-typical new englander from the loverly state of MA, but in closer description of the urban myths of people from MA. For example, the way they drive, behave at Red Sox games, talk...etc etc

[unclebuttsy]

Here ya go Jack... aren't you glad you asked?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masshole

[MassCrabbin]

OMG!!! HAHAHA...that is AWESOME!!! dude THANK YOU

[HenPot]

Any day.  If I was to make my screen name a chicken reference, I would go for "rooster"  not "hen"

Stay on the porch junior, nothing but a world of hurt when you jump off.