Va. buys out more than 350 crabbers
Virginia is buying out the licenses of more than 350 of its crabbers, paying them anywhere from $500 to $175,000 each to give up their rights to harvest the Chesapeake Bay's iconic crustacean.
Jack Travelstead, fisheries director for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said letters went out today (Nov. 20) accepting the offers of 359 holders of crabbing licenses. The commission had received offers to sell from 664 crabbers, roughly a third of all licensed crabbers in the state.
"I couldn’t be happier with the results,'' Travelstead said. "I am very pleased with the number of licenses we’ve been able to purchase."
Virginia had invited the state's 1,800 crabbing license holders to name their price, in a Priceline-style "reverse auction."
Maryland made a similar offer last summer to nearly 3,700 mostly small-time crabbers, but rejected the nearly 500 bids it got, declaring they didn't get enough reasonable offers. Only about a fourth quoted prices Maryland's Department of Natural Resources was willing to pay, with one apparent protest bidder demanding $425 million for his $60-a-year permit. The state then offered a flat $2,260 to each crabber, and got about 530 takers - a better result, though still short of the state's goal of retiring more than 1,300 licenses.








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