Today's Daily Press:

Stricter crabbing rules could be on horizon

Interesting Article. I'm sure the VMRC will do what they believe is necessary to help the crab population. Over the last 10 - 15 years I have noticed a serious boom in Marina's and the number of boats kept in wet slips. I have also noticed alot of wet slip owners including myself put out a crab pot in the summer to get crabs for bait or eating. I try to remember to pull my pot out whenever I'm not in need of crabs, but sometimes I am guilty forgetting. I have noticed most of the crab pots I see around the marina's are often left unattended for weeks on end, killing the crabs that are trapped and too big to get out of the escape ring. We may be able to do our part a little better on this subject and at least help the crab population rebound a little, since most marinas are in the tributaries where alot of the reproduction occurs. Just my thoughts.

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
2600 Washington Avenue
Third Floor
Newport News, Va. 23607





For immediate release
Jan. 23, 2008



Contact: John M.R. Bull
757-247-2269 (office)
757-509-0969 (cell)




NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – A multi-state panel of scientists has recommended Virginia regulators enact sweeping changes to significantly cut back on the number of blue crabs harvested in Virginia waters this year.
The crab population is dangerously low, despite years of effort to bring back this keystone species.
“A major storm or a significant die off of aquatic vegetation that prevents a good spawn could crash the population to levels we’re not sure would ever recover,’’ said Jack Travelstead, chief fisheries regulator for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
The panel of seven blue crab scientists – two each from Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, joined by one from South Carolina and three of Virginia’s fisheries regulators – studied the problem for 10 months.
In a report released Tuesday to the VMRC board, the scientists made several recommendations, the most significant including:
A shortened crab season to start on April 1, two weeks later than last year, and to end two weeks earlier than usual in November. Also, the crab spawning sanctuary should be closed two weeks longer, during a spawning season from May 15 to Sept. 15.
The state’s licensed commercial crabbers should be required to physically be in their boats, instead of hiring agents to do their crabbing for them.
The size of the escape rings on crab pots, known as cull rings, should be larger to allow more female crabs to get free.
The minimum size of peeler crabs allowed to be kept should increase from 3 inches to 3.5 inches.
The board accepted the recommendations and is expected to vote on enacting them next month, on Feb. 26.
Also, the panel of scientists strongly suggested that VMRC regulators devise other methods that would limit the number of days crabs can be harvested in Virginia.
And the scientists recommended regulators create a crab pot tagging system to make sure crabbers are not setting more pots than permitted.
“I understand that these measures may bring short-term concerns to those who earn a living on Virginia’s waterways,’’ said VMRC Commissioner Steve Bowman. “However, as we have heard today, to do nothing would be tantamount to neglect. I hope, through a cooperative effort from regulators and the crabbing industry, we can make long-term gains for the benefit of present and future generations.’’
The panel of scientists cited a variety of causes for crab population to fall dangerously low and stay that way for the past seven years: Overharvesting, loss of underwater grass beds and oyster reefs that provide food and shelter for juveniles, sea surface temperature changes and declining water quality.
The scientists noted that Virginia regulators have enacted 22 different regulations since 1994 aimed at bolstering the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population, but that the problem persists.
Data shows blue crabs were overfished in six of eight years measured, from 1998 to 2006, the last year for which full information was available. Also, Virginia has gone over its targeted harvest rate in 11 out of the past 17 years.
Despite conservation measures that were taken, and the lowered crab harvest targets set year after year, the total harvest of crabs has dropped from 94 million pounds in 2000 to 67 million pounds in 2006.
And still the crab population remains on the edge of a crash.
The abundance of crabs in the Chesapeake Bay from 2006 to 2007, estimated at 143 million, is 70 percent lower than population estimates in the early 1990s – a telling measure of the plight of Virginia’s blue crab.

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i have deffinately noticed a drop in the crab population in the last couple of years. I have seen crab pots throughout the lynnhaven river basin abandoned from storms and such which i am sure kills crabs. One thing i dont think people take into consideration is Yes, we are killing crabs through many means, but we are not the only ones hunting them. I have caught striper in the bay with half eaten baby blue crabs in their mouth, not even swollowed and there are also strict limits on striper and red drum which i know eat blue crabs. Imagine how many blue crabs a single 50 pound red drum could eat in a day, since we are not allowed to keep them, they roam freely eating more and more. Im not saying im a scientist and im not saying im right but just think about it, the more there are of different animals that eat the blue crabs the less crabs there will be. Its like the whole shark and ray problem. Since sharks are at a decline ( from humans, but thats another topic) the rays are free to roam causing havoc with all bivalves in their way. Those of you who go out into the bay during the summer know what im talking about. With less that 1% of the original oyster stock, it takes the oysters 1 year to filter all the water in the bay which would have only taken 3 days if they werent all gone. What we should do is control the food chain in the chesapeake bay vertically, not horizontally, by setting quotas for each individual species so it matches up and there is not a excess of one and a decline of another. When a certain species is in decline we shoud impose stricter limits on other species in the same chain. It may not seem fair to commercial and recreational fishermen, but things dont seem to be getting any better. All we do is take certain species we want like menhaden or striper and leave the next in line or below on the chain to either weaken or grow exponentially. That is why we have algal blooms(mostly duckweed) which isnt necessarily a bad thing, but when there are fish kills and dead zones i think it is.
just my thoughts on the matter

From Dr. Bob Allen:

The Blue Crab is in a desperate situation in the Chesapeake Bay..The lowly Crab has been in bad state for many years. .Conservation measures have been introduced and passed year in and year out without any noticeable results from the measures...VMRC is again proposing small measures to protect the remaining Blue Crabs, while placating the professional crabbers . I have quoted from one of the measures that VMRC will be considering at their February meeting. Travelstead in his attachment of the public notice asks for comments. I have sent the following. You are invited to do the same. You may even use my letter, but with your name and address attached. The important consideration is that if you have any concerns about the lack of blue crabs, you should express your own personal feelings about the seven measures being proposed.

Bob Allen, Hampton, VA



Jack Travelstead: Jack.Travelstead@mrc.virginia.gov

Of the seven suggestions presented for Public Hearing to stop the decline of the blue crabs in the Bay, I have comment on only one: VMRC PROPOSAL #7

"# 7) Crab dredge fishery: Participation has declined from 302 vessels in 1994 to 79 in 2006. Crab dredging accounts for only 9.2% of the total harvest, but 97% of harvested crabs are females. Further expansion of participation in this fishery should not be permitted, as the annual harvest rate on female blue crabs has been above target 7 of the last 10 years"


MY COMMENTS:

The proposed Winter Crab dredge measures do not go far enough and I favor a complete and immediate moratorium on the winter crab dredge fishery. If the Commissioners cannot go that far , then consideration should be given to shortening the winter season by a minimum of two weeks annually and into the future until the Crab dredge fishery is ended in Virginia .

Respectfully,

Robert B Allen
PSWSFA
Hampton Va 23664

I truely believe the dredging is the main cause of the decline. Ofcourse let's don't forget that the increase in stripers, drum, and specs surely has taken a toll also. It seems there was never a big problem until the dredging was allowed. It does not take a scientist to see that a 97% harvest of females is not acceptable. I only hope they don't wait too long like they did with the stripers and they are doing now with the gray trout...

Invertibrates are more sensative to chemicals like Copper which is used in boat bottom paint.Not just Crabs ,Shrimp and others also.

If the State of Va. would get rid of the menhadden fleet--at least not allow it to fish inside of the bay, the stripers would have plenty to eat in lieu of blue crabs. What is it going to take to get the state legislature to finally address this concern and take some very positive action? We should insist that both of these problems be solved immediately. OUR VOTES COULD MAY THE DIFFERENCE---find out the position of your elected representative on these issues before their next election.

I was also surprised to hear that they are allowing some Lynnhaven oysters to be harvested. Just because we've been able to get the oyster population up doesn't mean that we should just go and harvest them now. Why not let them do some work and filter the river a bit more. Or instead of harvesting them, why not relocate some of them to other parts of the river. I'd like to see huge oyster reefs all over the river and creeks. Imagine what they could do to the water quality.

Today's Daily Press

Crabs

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission yesterday imposed several restrictions on commercial crabbing to help the struggling population in the Chesapeake Bay. Among them:

Requiring watermen to have two openings in their pots, called cull rings, to let our small crabs-- most of which are female in VA waters.

Increasing the minimum size limit on peeler crabs, those soft crabs that fetch the highest prices at market.

Capping the winter dredge fishery at the 55 watermen who already do it now.

The Virginian-Pilot's Scott Harper has all the details in this report.

VMRC is not done yet.

Also on the table for discussion in April is cutting the number of crab pots by between 10 and 30 percent, or even as much as 50 percent. Harper reports they are also considering getting rid of recreational fishing licenses and extending the time in which sanctuaries that protect the crabs in the bay's mainstem are off limits.

Regulators are also considering getting rid of the winter dredge fishery altogether -- a practice by which watermen use a clamp-like dredge to remove female crabs that are burrowing in the bay's bottom during the cold months. They're easy marks, because they're not moving. That accounts for about 8 percent of Virginia's annual crab catch.

All of this is happening because the numbers don't lie. The great shellfish factory that was the Chesapeake Bay is sputtering. Watermen are still catching million of pounds of crabs, but significantly fewer than they were catching a few years ago. No one wants to see the crabs go the way of the oysters -- essentially becoming a species that has collapsed.

Last year's harvest, the two recent winter dredge surveys, the decline in water quality and major loss in bay grasses due in part to heat -- all are signs that our signature, iconic crustacean is in trouble. Despite how unpopular these changes are with watermen, regulators know they cannot just ignore the problem or put it off for another year.

Watermen complained that they are taking the brunt of the hit for a problem that is not their fault -- the degradation of water quality in the bay and the loss of key habitat for the crabs. VMRC officials acknowledged that was largely true, but still, the watermen had to make these sacrifices if there was to be a crabbing season at all.

Maryland will not be far behind in introducing its restrictions. It was waiting to see what Virginia would do, and in particular, it wants to see if VA is going to enforce a maximum size limit on females. If they do, Maryland likely will follow suit.

Virginia is also favoring a fishery where watermen will have specific times when they can go fishing, and they can sell their days on the water to someone else. I've heard Md. officials aren't crazy about this approach, because it doesn't really limit the effort. But in Maryland, many ideas are on the table.

MD officials will be meeting tomorrow to further discuss their plans. Click here to see the options MD officials are considering. It's a pretty interesting presentation.