The Chesapeake Bay blue crab population has increased by 60 percent over the past year, it was announced Wednesday, but it’s still unclear whether those figures will translate into cheaper crab prices for consumers.
The local blue crab population has risen to 658 million crabs, the largest number seen in more than a decade, according to the results of the annual winter dredge survey of the Chesapeake Bay conducted by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences.
“Our commercial crabbers’ jobs and the waterman’s way of life now appear to be on the path to sustainability,” said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell in response to the survey results on Wednesday. “This is great news for everyone who makes their living by crabbing and for everyone who enjoys genuine Chesapeake Bay crab cakes and she-crab soup.”
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley also praised the results of the survey. “Today, we can see firsthand what progress looks and feels like on the Chesapeake Bay,” he said.
However, local crabbers and crab houses said that the reported population boom won’t necessarily mean lower crab prices. This may be because the survey found a large increase in baby crabs, and whether that population will grow to legal size remains to be seen. The majority of young crabs do not make it to adulthood.
“It is encouraging — a 60 percent increase is good. But, again, [the crabs] have to beat the odds and become legal [sized],” said Danny Brown, the general manager of Fisherman’s Crab Deck in Grasonville, Md.
Chip Beverung, general manager of Woody’s Crab House in Maryland, was also hesitant to speculate on the future of the crab market price. “Right now, I haven’t really heard too much out of my crabbers except that they’re seeing some small crabs now,” he said. “As far as the change goes from last year, I haven’t heard anything from my individual crabbers.”
The population increase found in the survey stems from a concerted effort to increase the number of female crabs over the past few years, according to Eric Johnson, a Smithsonian Institute fisheries ecologist who specializes in the blue crab population of the Chesapeake Bay. More females have translated into more babies, he said.
However, he noted that as the population of young crabs grows, they will run into resource challenges such as competition for food, habitat, and even cannibalism.
“Seeing lots of baby crabs is great,” Johnson said. “But making sure all those animals make it to adulthood isn’t a given.”
