Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Population Increases for Second Straight Year

The Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population has risen to an estimated 658 million, a 60 percent increase from last year and the highest level since 1997, according to the latest annual Bay-wide winter dredge survey.

In 2009, the survey estimated the blue crab population at 400 million, and in 2008 the population was estimated at 280 million.

The low blue crab population in 2008 prompted Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) to implement emergency fishery regulations to reduce harvest pressure on female crabs by 34 percent.

The 2010 population estimate indicates that the blue crab fishery management measures put into place by Maryland and Virginia in 2008 have been successful at rebuilding the blue crab population.

“The substantial rise in abundance of mature crabs and juveniles was clearly a response of the crab population to unprecedented management actions, such as the closure of the winter dredge fishery by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and partner agencies,” said Dr. Rom Lipcius, who directs the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) component of the annual dredge survey. “The increase was neither a random event nor a reflection of improved environmental conditions.”

However, the governors of Maryland and Virginia stressed that the states must continue to work together.

“While we are making progress, our work is not done and we are committed to working with our partners to achieve our ultimate goal of a self-sustaining fishery that will support our industry and recreational fisheries over the long term,” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said.

“Two years does not make a trend,” Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said. “The scientific evidence shows our management measures are working but we need to continue along this path in order to ensure the Bay's crab population returns to robustness and remains at that level.”

The Bay-wide dredge survey also estimates the abundance of adult, spawning-age crabs. There are an estimated 315 million spawning-age crabs in the Bay, up from 223 million in 2009 as reported in the 2009 Bay Barometer. This is the highest population of spawning-age blue crabs recorded since 1993. Crab reproduction this year was the sixth-highest in the 21-year survey history.

The annual winter dredge survey is conducted by VIMS and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. It is the most comprehensive and statistically sound of the blue crab surveys conducted in the Chesapeake Bay and serves as the main indicator of blue crab stock status.

For more information about the blue crab population figures, view this technical presentation by VIMS.

Additionally, preliminary figures indicate that the 2009 Bay-wide blue crab harvest was 53.7 million pounds, which equates to approximately 43 percent of the population, below the target harvest level of 46 percent. Watermen actually harvested more crabs during the 2009 season than in seven of the past 10 years.

Based on the final assessment of crab harvest by NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, Maryland, Virginia and the PRFC may consider modest modifications to the current blue crab regulations by early summer.