Gov. Martin O'Malley: 2011 Crab Count Second Highest Since 1997

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) announced, that while blue crab population numbers are slightly down from last year, the overall trend for the state crustacean looks good.

Each year scientists and watermen work together to take a crab census.

The 2011 "Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey" counts the number of crabs in 1,500 spots in the Chesapeake Bay. This year’s numbers are the second highest since 1997. The 2010 survey was the highest count.

O’Malley made the announcement at Mike’s Crab House in Riva, overlooking the South River.

O’Malley credited government action in Maryland, in partnership with the state of Virginia and the federal government, that have been in place since 2008.  A big part of the initiative was to limit the harvest of female crabs. Scientists believed that the historic lows among the spawning stock could be reversed through conservation.

Along with the governor, other dignitaries at the Tuesday event included: Maryland Department of Natural Resource Secretary John Griffin, DNR Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Kim Coble and Dr. Tom Miller,  the professor of fisheries at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

“Today we continue to realize the benefits of the very tough decisions we made three years ago–decisions that are bringing us closer to our ultimate goal: a self-sustaining fishery that will support our industry and recreational fisheries over the long term,” O’Malley said.

O’Malley said that one of the reasons for the dip this year might be an unusually abrupt and harsh cold that arrived in December.

O’Connell explained that crabs’ vulnerability to extreme cold could account for “the fact that as much as 31 percent of Maryland’s adult crabs were lost to winter kill, as opposed to about 11 percent in 2010.”

O'Malley said that last year's high numbers translated into a harvest of more than 89 million pounds, "the highest since 1993.”

The numbers will be used to help determine harvest limits for crabbers.

O'Connell said that DNR will be working with the industry, the public and advisory commissions to determine if adjustments to regulations will be made for this year.