Cutting the Number of Crabbing Licenses to Save the Blue Crab

Fewer crabbers, more crabs.

 

Maryland is proposing to buy back more than half of the commercial blue crab licenses to help the iconic species recover.

 

Do you agree or disagree with the idea of reducing the number of crab licenses in the Chesapeake Bay?  Send Bay Daily your thoughts.

 

The move to cut down on the number of licenses comes after Maryland and Virginia restricted harvesting of female crabs last year, which appeared to help reverse a decline in crab populations.

 

The crab population in the Chesapeake Bay as gauged by this winter’s annual dredge survey was an estimated 418 million blue crabs, up from 283 million last year, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

 

But the population density of crabs still appeared to be below average for the period 1990 to 2009, according to the state.

 

Do we still need to do more to protect the beautiful swimmers?  A report released in December by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation concluded that overfishing and pollution are both important factors in the decline of the blue-crab. Watermen have been taking an average of 62 percent of the total crab population each year over the last decade, compared to the 46 percent that scientists say would be sustainable.

 

Give me your thoughts.

 

 

Comments

[Erin]

What would be the process for determining who gets to keep their commercial license, and who we buy back from? I think its a good idea, but how would it affect the livelihood of watermen?

[Tom Pelton]

It would a voluntary bidding process. People who wanted to sell their licenses (many of the licenses the state wants to target are not active right now) would put in an offer to the state, and the state would take the lowest bidders.

Here is what The Baltimore Sun had to say about the process:

"The Department of Natural Resources announced it is willing to buy back up to 3,676 "limited crab catcher" licenses, which allow holders to fish with up to 50 wire-mesh "pots" or an unlimited amount of baited line. The department mailed letters to all license holders giving them until July 31 to submit bids specifying the amount they'd be willing to take for their permits.

There are about 6,000 commercial crab licenses in the state, but only about 1,800 of those are actively fished, according to state officials. The state attempted last winter to "freeze" about 1,000 of those licenses for which no harvest had been reported in five years, but an outcry from license holders -- many of them elderly -- prompted the state to reconsider."

[John W]

What good is it to buy back licenses that aren't in use anyway? Not much of an effect on the crab harvest. Sounds like good money thrown out the window.

Also, it states above that the State would take the "highest bidders". Did you mean to say that the State would take the "lowest offers" provided by watermen to turn them in? If I were managing the money, I'd take the bottom 3,676 for the lowest total outlay.

[Tom Pelton]

Thanks for the questions, John. The theory behind buying up seldom-used licenses is that it prevents an increase in crabbing in the future.

You are right about the bidding process. The state will buy the licenses from the lowest bidders, not the highest bidders. It's a reverse auction.

[Facebook]

I put a link to this Bay Daily article on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Facebook page, and received 20 responses from readers.

The readers were asked if they AGREE OR DISAGREE with the idea of Maryland buying back crab licenses to help save the blue crab.

Here are the responess:

* The only people that should be crabbing in the chesapeake bay are people that live in the area. there should be no one crabbing, that doesn't live in va or maryland. ships that come in the bay from other states should not be allowed to crab and should be given a stiff fine and sent back to their own states. every ship, from the lower bay to maryland needs to have it's registration checked to make sure they are truely living and docked in this area, if not it should be sent back home.

* Agree

* Amen!

* I'm all for that. I think those of us who have grown up on the bay know a better respect for it than those who drop in for a bit of sport at the expense of not only our crabs, but the fragile ecosystem of which they are a part.

* ABSOLUTELY.

* YES, YES, YES!!!

* What about the watermen trying to make a living? I know if we do not have any crabs they do not make a living for ever!

* I say yea to that and stop letting all the crabbers from catching the females. There won't be any crabs or living things in the bay if WE do not clean it up and when I say WE that means are gov as well.

* Pollution causes more damage than crabbing. Lots of crabs come from crab farms anyway. Clean up the bay and a lot of these problems will go away.

* Yes to less commercial licenses, no females in MD and VA, and 5.5" min size would be my vote...

* Agree, but there should be emphasis that polluting and improperly maintained shorelines have caused this problem. Also suggesting that these restrictions could be lessened if there are increases in certain measures taken to provide a more viable habitat in the bay area. Since the bay is now considered a national treasure it seems to me that it can be understood why these restrictions are necessary.

* The simple MicroEconomics question is...
just as Taxi Medallions in NYC...
(the use of a Medallion is $ 6 figures)
or the clamming license in NJ
(where the liscence is worth more than a new boat)... what is to keep the licenses from being rented out (where the use of a license is worth more than a new boat)
and then put into use 24/7?

* It's a wonderful myopic idea!
Now let's do some real homework.

* That's a bad idea

* I am NOT from MD or VA but I absolutely agree with Ms. Ingle.

* It might be worth a try. Many who crab the bay commercially may be looking for a financial way out. Those that are marginal may take the offer.

* I suggest an end to "all you can eat" events. Most people don't take the time to really pick all the meat, or they just eat the claws...a total waste of a valuable and rare resource.

* I like Zahn's point. I've worked many a "all you can eat" crab feast in my day and I've always been horrified at the number of uneducated (in the way of picking clean a crab) who take dozens of crabs just for the claws.

* I think the limits could be reduced IF studies show that it makes a difference. But like others have said, the ecosystem needs to be fixed too - what good is keeping crab in the Bay if they can't survive and thrive where they live?

* I agree on perhaps limiting the all you can eat thing, and maybe limit days on the commercial licenses, or go to an odd/even schedule

* Agree. fish/eat all of them and they are no more... and i'm not even a brain surgeon.

* If we cannot restrain ourselves now and keep working on water quality, might as well kiss this fishery (and life form) goodbye.... everything for a buck - sad approach.

[Gerald Higgins]

in order to have baby crabs you must have females. The way females have been harvested in the past it is a miracle that their not extinct. The female carries millions of eggs that provide basic ecosystem functions