![]() The number of juvenile crabs-which will grow to be harvestable size this fall-increased by 34 percent from 2017 to 2018, while adult males decreased 23 percent from 76 to 58 million. ![]() The Blue Crab Advisory Report includes expert analysis of data from the annual Bay-wide Winter Dredge Survey ( released earlier this year by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) and harvest estimates from recent years. The blue crab fishery in the Chesapeake Bay is managed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Potomac River Fisheries Commission. In the 2017 blue crab fishing season, 21 percent of all female blue crabs were harvested-safely below the target (25.5 percent) and threshold (34 percent) levels. Scientists place a special focus on females as they develop the analysis because they are key to future success of the species. Notably, the estimated 2018 population of 147 million adult females was lower than the target of 215 million. The Chesapeake Bay Program’s Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team recently approved the 2018 edition of the report.Īccording to the report and the scientific reference points that resource managers follow for “target” (healthy) and “threshold” (border between safe and unsafe) levels, the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population is currently not depleted, and it is not being overfished. The report provides scientific analysis of the Bay’s blue crab population to help Bay resource managers as they set blue crab fishing regulations. The annual Blue Crab Advisory Report, released today by the Chesapeake Bay Program and developed by the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, finds that the overall Chesapeake Bay blue crab population decreased by almost 18 percent from 455 million in 2017 to 372 million in 2018.
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