Managing Blue Crabs

•Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Assessment 2005

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Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee (BBCAC)

This bi-state committee was formed in 1996 by the Chesapeake Bay Commission, which is comprised of state legislators from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay Commission is a signatory to the regional Chesapeake Bay Agreement. BBCAC has a technical workgroup composed of researchers and other experts which has provided advice and assistance on this complex issue, and the bi-state committee itself is made up of not only legislators but also watermen, seafood processors, conservationists, natural resource managers and other stakeholders.

• More about BBCAC
  
  
• Blue Crab 2005: Status of the Chesapeake Population and its Fisheries (pdf, ~1.4mb). Prepared by the Chesapeake Bay Commission's Technical Workgroup (the Bi-state Blue Crab Technical Advisory Committee), with assistance from Maryland Sea Grant.
  
  
• Blue Crab 2004: Status of the Chesapeake Population and its Fisheries (pdf, ~285kb). Prepared by the Chesapeake Bay Commission's Technical Workgroup (the Bi-state Blue Crab Technical Advisory Committee), with assistance from Maryland Sea Grant.
  
  
• Blue Crab 2003: Status of the Chesapeake Population and its Fisheries (pdf, ~ 1.47mb). Prepared by the Chesapeake Bay Commission's Technical Workgroup.
  
  
• Status of the Baywide Fishery 2001. Prepared by BBCAC to provide a quick status report on blue grab management during 2001.
  
  
• PowerPoint Slide Show describing some of the BBCAC's work and recommendations.
  
  
• Virginia PowerPoint Slide Show describing some of the BBCAC's work and recommendations for Virginia.
  
  
• Potomac River PowerPoint Slide Show describing some of the BBCAC's work and recommendations for the Potomac River.
  
  
• Download or view the following documents (you may need to download free Adobe Acrobat Reader if not already installed on your computer):
  
  • Crab Forum Flier
  
  • Managing and Protecting the Blue Crab Fact Sheet
  
  • Taking Action For The Blue Crab:
  Managing and Protecting the Stock and its Fisheries
  

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Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC)

The 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreement required the development of a compatible Baywide stock assessment program, and "to develop, adopt and begin to implement a Baywide plan for the assessment of commercially, recreationally, and ecologically selected valuable species."

The Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC) developed the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Plan (CBSAP), and now assesses Bay-wide fisheries resources and identifies outstanding data needs for stock assessment models for Bay fisheries. Recommendations include improved ways to collect catch, effort, and biological data from commercial and recreational landings, in addition to long-term surveys for estimating relative abundance of important species in all regions of the Bay and its tributaries. The committee supports studies designed to estimate the relative influence of fishing mortality, natural mortality, pollution, and habitat modification on patterns and trends in abundance.

• Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Advisory Reports
  
  2007 (~52kb pdf)
  2005 (~825kb pdf)
  2004 (~425kb pdf)
  2003 (~900kb pdf)
  2002 (~560kb pdf)
  2001 (~ 40kb pdf)
  2000 (~ 20kb pdf)
  

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Economic Impact of Blue Crab Regulations

An analysis of current crab processing practices in the state of Maryland finds that the regulations proposed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, restricting possession of sponge crabs and male crabs less than 5.25 inches in carapace width, would result in annual lost sales to the Maryland processing industry of $13.5 million (January 2002).

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More About Blue Crab Management

• Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service
• 2002 Recreational Crab Regulations For Coastal Bays of Maryland's
  Atlantic Ocean and their Tributaries
• and other crab links