by
Rebecca Sherratt, Production editor, International Aquafeed
The blue crab is one of the most sought-out shellfish in the mid-Atlantic region, caught commercially for food, but also recreationally by many fishers residing upon the coast, or simply travelling to the coast for some relaxing crabbing.
Areas with ample cover, particularly areas ripe with submerged aquatic vegetation, are the places where blue crabs tend to nestle.
Blue crabs can be caught relatively easily, usually they are harvested only with simple gear such as a pot, trotline, handline, dip net, scrape or dredge. The equipment used to catch crabs has little to no effect on habitat, however, the mass number of crustaceans being harvested has led to multiple associations establishing regulations to maintain and increase their numbers.
Declining Numbers
Since the 1990s, fishermen have gone to an extended effort to ensure that less crabs are harvested from the oceans. Since then, a drastic improvement has been seen in the numbers of crustaceans, however, there still remains a steady decline in numbers.
The Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC) reported numbers exceeding 49 million blue crabs being harvested from their bay in 2016 alone. Recreational harvests were estimated to be 3.5 million pounds, while commercial harvests from those waters were estimated to be 53.1 million pounds. These numbers were 40 percent higher than the harvest of 2015, which came to 35.2 million pounds, but was still considered to be a below average harvest.
By the start of the 2018 crabbing season, approximately 147 million female adult blue crabs, at over one year old, were estimated to be present in Chesapeake Bay, a worryingly low figure compared to the Bay’s aim to have 215 million female spawning-age crabs. It is not the first time that the bay has fallen short of numbers; in 2017 the Bay, aiming for 254 million crabs present, had even less numbers than in this current year.
The total abundance of male and female blue crabs in the Bay has reportedly decreased 18 percent, from 553 million crabs in 2018 to 455 million crabs in 2017. The reports suggest that juvenile crabs rarely survived into adulthood or were harvested before reaching maturity.
Based upon the Bay’s 2017 Blue Crab Advisory Report, these declining numbers are not yet at a worrisome level and blue crabs’ numbers can still somewhat easily be increased. The blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay are not considered to be over-fished or over-harvested, and the 2018 Blue Crab Advisory Project also supports this statement.
Read more HERE.
The blue crab is one of the most sought-out shellfish in the mid-Atlantic region, caught commercially for food, but also recreationally by many fishers residing upon the coast, or simply travelling to the coast for some relaxing crabbing.
Areas with ample cover, particularly areas ripe with submerged aquatic vegetation, are the places where blue crabs tend to nestle.
Blue crabs can be caught relatively easily, usually they are harvested only with simple gear such as a pot, trotline, handline, dip net, scrape or dredge. The equipment used to catch crabs has little to no effect on habitat, however, the mass number of crustaceans being harvested has led to multiple associations establishing regulations to maintain and increase their numbers.
Declining Numbers
Since the 1990s, fishermen have gone to an extended effort to ensure that less crabs are harvested from the oceans. Since then, a drastic improvement has been seen in the numbers of crustaceans, however, there still remains a steady decline in numbers.
The Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC) reported numbers exceeding 49 million blue crabs being harvested from their bay in 2016 alone. Recreational harvests were estimated to be 3.5 million pounds, while commercial harvests from those waters were estimated to be 53.1 million pounds. These numbers were 40 percent higher than the harvest of 2015, which came to 35.2 million pounds, but was still considered to be a below average harvest.
By the start of the 2018 crabbing season, approximately 147 million female adult blue crabs, at over one year old, were estimated to be present in Chesapeake Bay, a worryingly low figure compared to the Bay’s aim to have 215 million female spawning-age crabs. It is not the first time that the bay has fallen short of numbers; in 2017 the Bay, aiming for 254 million crabs present, had even less numbers than in this current year.
The total abundance of male and female blue crabs in the Bay has reportedly decreased 18 percent, from 553 million crabs in 2018 to 455 million crabs in 2017. The reports suggest that juvenile crabs rarely survived into adulthood or were harvested before reaching maturity.
Based upon the Bay’s 2017 Blue Crab Advisory Report, these declining numbers are not yet at a worrisome level and blue crabs’ numbers can still somewhat easily be increased. The blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay are not considered to be over-fished or over-harvested, and the 2018 Blue Crab Advisory Project also supports this statement.
Read more HERE.
The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd
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