Report Released on State of Bay's Blue Crab
Cautious optimism is the word on the street for the Chesapeake Bay blue
crab, according to a new report by the Chesapeake Bay Commission,
Blue Crab 2004: Status of the Chesapeake Population and it Fisheries.
On the one hand, after years of decline, stocks of the famed crustacean
have inched back toward the long-term average, at least according to
the annual winter survey conducted by Maryland and Virginia. Commercial
crab harvests, too, have ticked upward after a string of low catches.
On the other hand, studies in the lower Bay suggest continuing low
numbers of mature females (the spawning stock), causing concern among
some scientists.
Since the Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee (BBCAC) released its
Action Plan in January 2001, the Chesapeake Bay Commission's Blue Crab
Technical Advisory Committee (BBTAC) has issued an annual Status
Report. The Commission is especially interested in tracking progress on
the action items set forth in the 2001 Plan, primary among them a
doubling of the blue crab spawning stock.
The current size of the stock and the current rate of fishing
pressure - based on the 2004 season - have left the blue crab in what
scientists call "the precautionary zone." According to the report,
"Until the blue crab spawning stock and fishing pressure move outside
the precautionary zone, the Committee urges adherence to the
conservation measures agreed to in accordance with the Bi-State Action
Plan."
Much of the information on stock abundance was drawn from the
Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, which early each summer
issues an Advisory on blue crabs. The Commission's report also includes
2004 harvest data from the three jurisdictions: Maryland, Virginia, and
the Potomac River, which is managed separately by the Potomac River
Fisheries Commission.
The Status Report quotes Maryland Delegate John Wood, Jr., former
Co-Chair of the now dormant Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee, who
sounds a word of caution. "Our goal is to double the spawning stock of
the Chesapeake Bay blue crab... and we are simply not yet there." Wood
points out that "even though we have turned the corner," we could "go
backwards just as easily as forward," and he calls for "extra caution."
The Status Report is available from the Chesapeake Bay Commission and on the web as a pdf (~285kb).
- Jack Greer
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