![]() “Despite this winter’s cold temperatures, the Bay’s blue crab population remains healthy. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation used the survey results to call on fishery managers to hold the line against fishing industry calls to relax decade-old limits on the catch. More: Blue crabs, bay grasses rallying as Chesapeake's health improves: report Labor issues aside, fishermen raked in 54 million pounds of crabs from the bay and its tributaries last year, down 10 percent from 2016. The Trump administration enacted a first-ever lottery system for work visas, leading to a severe shortage of Mexican laborers at Eastern Shore crab houses. Whether anyone will be around to process them is another matter. Watermen's bushel baskets should start getting fuller later this year as the young crabs grow large enough to be kept, according to Natural Resources officials. The survey's results may explain this season's slow start to the crab harvest. More: Icebreaker a vital lifeline for frozen Smith Island More: Shortage of blue crab pickers forces Maryland seafood shops to shut down That likely helped them weather the winter's frigid temperatures and ice cover, scientists say. ![]() The Chesapaekea's blue crabs spend the first part of their lives in the Atlantic Ocean, and few returned to the bay last year to grow and mature. ![]() The population's saving grace: a 34 percent increase in young crabs. “Despite the cold, hard winter, which extended well into the spring, the blue crab population remains healthy, resilient and sustainable,” Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton said.Įven with the winter's high mortality rate, Belton said the population remains "well within parameters." This year's estimated 371 million crabs represents a nearly 20 percent decrease from last year's survey. Maryland's top wildlife official described the species' numbers as "healthy" Wednesday despite a 35 percent mortality rate among adult female crabs in the state's annual winter dredge survey. This past winter's unremitting cold decimated the Chesapeake Bay's blue crabs, but the iconic crustacean is showing signs that its population won't be down for long. ![]() Watch Video: Crab pot making by the numbers ![]()
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