The abundance of adult crabs has steadily declined despite meeting management objectives, officials said. While the survey's juvenile crab estimate rose to 101 million from 86 million last year, officials noted that the number is below average for the third year.
The survey's highest estimate for crabs in the bay was 852 million in 1993. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources' annual winter dredge survey, a cooperative effort with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, estimated that 227 million crabs are living in the nation's largest estuary, down from 282 million in 2021. (AP/WJZ) - The number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay is estimated to be at the lowest level observed since an annual survey tracking the population began in 1990, officials announced Thursday. “All of us who love blue crabs benefit from the science-based analysis and discussion in the Blue Crab Advisory Report,” said Sean Corson, director of the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office and chairman of the Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team.ANNAPOLIS, Md.
The Chesapeake Bay Program recently released the 2021 Blue Crab Advisory Report, which finds that the overall Chesapeake Bay blue crab population is not being overfished and is not depleted.Įxperts from the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee reviewed the results from the annual bay-wide Winter Dredge Survey, released in May 2021 by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, as well as harvest figures from the previous seasons to provide an in-depth picture of the Chesapeake’s blue crab population and to make suggestions for any needed changes to regulations. A Winter Dredge Survey indicates the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay decreased from 405 million in 2020 to 282 million in 2021.
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