Maryland Sea Grant: Blue Crab Workshop

Background

The blue crab is by far the dominant contributor to Maryland's seafood harvesting and processing activities. In 1999, blue crab harvest accounted for over 60% of Maryland watermen's commercial fishing income, $38.9 million of a total ex-vessel value of $63.3 million. Additionally, crabmeat production occurs in approximately 44 Bay area processing plants. These processing plants employ over 1,200 workers, and in 1999 had a sales volume estimated at $30.3 million.

Both the harvesting and processing sectors have been under stress in the Chesapeake Bay for some years now, with increasing commercial and recreational fishing effort yielding fewer numbers of crabs per unit of effort and smaller average sizes. In order to increase from current levels and sustain the blue crab resource, it is necessary to understand its population dynamics and the concurrent linkages to the harvesting and processing industries. Currently, the Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee (BBCAC) of the Chesapeake Bay Commission is examining the status and health of the blue crab resource with the aim of determining how to improve management of the fishery. The ultimate goal is to ensure a healthy crab population and an economically viable industry. While the BBCAC effort is focusing some attention on blue crab biology and ecology - specifically the role of seagrass habitat and predation in effecting population abundance- less attention is being paid to the changing dynamics of the blue crab processing industry. Over the last two years this market has had to compete with a large increase in imports of crabmeat. Prior to that the expansion of the market for softshell crab was emphasized with a concurrent increase in crab shedding systems used to take advantage of the softshell market.

These factors have prompted Maryland Sea Grant to sponsor two meetings to complement the on-going efforts of the BBCAC. The first, held June 14, 2000, at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland, brought scientists together to discuss how we can best apply our current knowledge of blue crab biology, ecology and population dynamics to more effectively inform management efforts, and to identify key gaps requiring further research. A second meeting held in early autumn examined how we can more effectively apply our knowledge about seafood processing, product development and marketing in order to increase benefits from the blue crab resource.

This report summarizes key elements of the first meeting and identifies research needs that the participating scientists agreed would, if satisfied, provide important information relevant to the long-term health of this resource in Chesapeake Bay. It was clear that viewpoints differed as to the priority of these areas and which would have the greatest impact in the development of management strategies. As facilitators, we believe the summaries that follow provide a context for further discussions and general guidelines for the development of new funding initiatives that should incorporate input developed from other venues as well. Ultimately, these efforts also provide a context for discussion at many levels and the development of programs with appropriate scientific underpinnings.