Virginia commission increases bushel limits for iconic Chesapeake Bay blue crab following population uptick

FT. MONROE, Va. (CN) — The Virginia Marine Resource Commission on Tuesday increased blue crab bushel limits in the Chesapeake Bay for commercial watermen following an uptick in the species' population in 2023 after a record low in 2022. 

"The VMRC is trying to balance having a sustainable blue crab population and also having a sustainable fishery," Senior Scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Chris Moore said in a phone interview.  

Tuesday's decision also reduces the maximum size limit for the Chesapeake Bay fall season, the Potomac River spring and fall season and the Atlantic Coast season from 36 inches to 31 inches for recreational fishing of striped bass. 

Moore said the crab population has fluctuated over his ten-plus years of working with the foundation. After a period of low abundance through the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, the population began slowly increasing in 2008. 

"For the first time in 2008, Virginia and Maryland got together on more of a bay-wide management plan," Moore said. "Things have not been perfect, but we've generally seen an increase in the number of blue crabs." 

The population increased to nearly 800 million in 2012 before 2020, and the ensuing Covid-19 pandemic began a steep population decline, culminating in a record-low population of 227 million in 2022. The population has grown to an estimated 323 million in 2023, according to a Virginia Marine Resource Commission survey. 

James "J.C." Hudgins, a member of the state agency's Crab Management Advisory Committee and president of the Virginia Waterman's Association, said increased restrictions result in increased economic stress for crab harvesters.  

"Crabbing is a tough fishery," Hudgins said in a phone interview. "It definitely did have an impact on the larger crabbers." 

The new regulations increase by one bushel per day for medium-sized operations and increase from 27 to 36 bushels per day for the largest operations. The agency did not increase the crab limit for small operations. 

Last year's lower bushel limits disproportionately put the conservation burden on the largest crabbing operations licensed to use up to 425 crab pots.

Between 70% to 90% of striped bass in the U.S. spawn from the Chesapeake Bay. Striped bass is exceedingly popular for recreational anglers, according to Moore. 

"Striped bass are extremely popular species," Moore said. "As more and more people got into fishing partially as a result of the pandemic, the recreational market, especially for striped bass, has really gone up in the last couple of years."  

Warmer water temperatures and less oxygen have limited the territory for striped bass, while crabs have been observed moving farther north, according to Moore. Invasive predators like blue catfish stress populations by feeding on the Bay's juveniles. 

Male crabs prefer the fresher waters of Maryland and the Bay's upper tributaries, while females like the saltier waters in the central part of the Bay and Virginia, closer to the ocean. The three jurisdictions regulating the Bay are the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission.

Moore said that all three jurisdictions are making minor adjustments to reflect the increase in crab population and decrease in striped bass. Efforts to restore the populations focus on habitat restoration, including oyster reefs and underwater grasses that protect crabs and fish. 

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