Virginia Government Moving to Ban Winter Harvest of Blue Crabs
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Friday, July 29th, 2011
(Image: Shutterstock/Aleksey Klints )
Chesapeake Bay watermen aren’t making any money.
Even though this year’s harvest of blue crabs has been strong, consumer demand for the ugly, horned (but tasty!) crustaceans has been low–maybe them being stupid expensive has something to do with it. Low demand means that wholesalers aren’t shilling out as much to the fisherman as they once were, which means that fishermen are out of luck.
Their bad luck doesn’t stop there, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission has announced that it will hold a public hearing to extend its ban on the Winter Dredge for a fourth year.
Many fishermen rely on the Winter Dredge—where they scoop hibernating crabs from the bottom of the bay—as a means to sustain themselves through the cold winter months, but the practice was banned in 2007 when the bay’s crab population dwindled to twenty year lows.
Despite a lot of moaning from the docks, the ban has been effective in increasing the crab population. Last year’s combined bay harvest yielded 89 million pounds of blue crabs, the highest the region has seen since 1993. But with crab populations up, retail prices too high (says I), and wholesale prices too low, it’s a safe bet that extending the wintertime ban for a fourth year won’t go over too well with anyone.
Except maybe the crabs, they’d probably be okay with it.
- Kris King
Tags: blue crabs, Chesapeake Bay, crazy expensive things, fisherman, fishing, Hard Times, legislation, winter dredge