Crab numbers dip lower
We have long been expecting the bad news about the Chesapeake Bay's crab harvest, and today we got it: Maryland's Department of Natural Resources announced that the harvest was 21.8 million pounds -- the second-lowest in 30 years. the last time it dipped anywhere near that was in 2000, prompting many restrictions in both Maryland and Virginia.
Asked what kind of restrictions we might expect this time, DNR officials declined to be specific. But Virginia is already talking about a few things -- shorter days, shorter seasons, tagging pots, etc.
I've heard they want to manage the crab fishery like the scallop fishery, but that's not so helpful to me, as I don't know much about scallops. Here's what I've written so far for the web. There will be more, much more in tomorrow's paper.
I report on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, I have focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, I've crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. Recently, I have been covering the growth and development transforming the landscape. I love seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. I hope to share some here.
