BERLIN — In another lingering effect of the long, cold winter in the region, the results of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ 2014 blue crab winter dredge survey released this week indicate the area’s favorite crustacean population has dipped below what is deemed safe in certain indicators.
There was good news and bad news in the DNR’s winter blue crab dredge survey results for the Chesapeake Bay released this week. Juvenile crabs saw a remarkable rebound from the record low numbers in 2013, but the all-important female spawning stock showed a significant decline.
The crabbing harvest in the bay remained at a safe level for the sixth consecutive year. Juvenile crabs increased by an astounding 78 percent following 2013’s record low. Meanwhile, the overall population including juveniles, adult males and females has returned to the pre-2008 levels of roughly 300 million, all of which is good news.
However, the results illustrate the inherent volatility of the fragile crab population in the Chesapeake. The report suggests a wide variety of environmental factors could be contributing to the low abundance.
The survey points out the long, cold winter appears to be one cause of the low abundance level. Low water temperatures this winter resulted in one of the worst cold-kill events since the survey started in 1990, causing the death of 28 percent of the adult crabs in Maryland.
“Since crab harvests remained at safe levels, our scientists believe an array of environmental factors impacted blue crab abundance,” said DNR Secretary Joe Gill. “With the number of spawning age crabs low and juveniles at pre-2008 levels for two years running, we will be working with our partners and stakeholders to develop adaptive management strategies that will protect the next generation of spawners.”
Fisheries management officials in Maryland and Virginia are embarking on a two-pronged approach to reverse the trend. The first is to protect the adult females that will be spawning this summer. The second is designed to protect the current population of juvenile females through next spring in the hopes of building up the female population that will spawn in 2015.
“Even though our 2008 conservation measures were designed to allow for naturally occurring fluctuations in crabs, these results are not what we hoped to see,” said DNR Fisheries Director Tom O’Connell. “What is most important here is that the structure we put into place to cooperatively manage this fishery is strong.”