![]() ![]() This year, there’s an estimated 411 million crabs in the bay. Last year’s baywide stock was so sparse - 297 million crabs overall, the smallest number since 2008 - that watermen typically couldn’t catch enough to meet their limit. In response, the commission reduced the crab harvest cap by 10 percent last year, and earlier this year moved to keep that reduction in place for this season as well.Įven so, Bull said crabbers can expect bigger hauls this year simply because the stock has improved. “That is a red alarm, DEFCON 1 situation for fisheries managers,” Bull said. I would personally rather not see the gains that we’ve made in improving this crab stock to be risked.” This fishery has not expanded in the last few years. “The hard potters have taken harvest reductions over the last few years. ![]() ![]() “Personally, I think this is not the year to reopen the winter dredge fishery,” Bull said, because abundance levels simply aren’t high enough. The Crab Management Advisory Committee of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) voted overwhelmingly last week to recommend ending the closure - a move that actually puts the committee at odds with VMRC staff and its commissioner, who recommend keeping the ban in place.Īnd if the winter dredge does reopen, VMRC Commissioner John Bull says it would mean reducing the daily bushel limits of hard pot crabbers in the spring to compensate. After closing the winter dredge fishery for Chesapeake blue crab for seven years straight to help the struggling stock rebuild, the state is inching closer toward reopening it this winter. ![]()
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