Chesapeake Bay blue crab population grows 35 percent; DNR predicts ‘robust’ season

April 12, 2016 Mid Atlantic

There are more than 550 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, an increase of more than a third over this time last year and one of the highest population counts of the past two decades. A winter dredging survey found the strongest growth in the populations of adult male crabs, which more than doubled. The number of spawning females, a key barometer for future population growth, nearly doubled but remained slightly below a target population count of 215 million.Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials, who released the survey results Tuesday, said the results bode well for local crab harvests. Read the rest here 15:53

blue crab population grows, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, winter dredging survey

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Ocean Resource Privatization

Articles Posted by Date
April 2024

M T W T F S S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

« Mar

April 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

The New England groundfish debacle (Part III): who or what is at fault? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet

It took me a while to decide how to most accurately describe the situation that has been visited upon the New England fishing communities that are and since colonial times have been dependent on the groundfish fisheries.

NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?

While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here

Recent Posts
- 2014 Atlantic Salmon tags from New Brunswick recovered in Greenland and Ireland
  
  The recovery in Greenland and Ireland of two electronic tags attached to salmon in New Brunswick in 2014 is giving researchers valuable insight into the travels of Read More »
- California water wars: Its fish vs big agriculture once again
  
  Citing nine years of research and extensive public outreach, the Board announced the increased water flows were designed to “prevent an ecological crisis, including the total Read More »
- PFDs: Too few commercial fishermen wear life jackets
  
  I recall a great quote from the late Molly Benjamin, a Cape Cod Times fishing columnist and well-known voice for the New England fishing community. In Read More »
- Coast Guard tows disabled 38-foot fishing vessel with 2 people, 1 dog to safety in Juneau, Alaska
  
  Coast Guard Station Juneau crewmembers towed a disabled vessel with two people and one dog aboard to Juneau, Alaska, Sunday. A Station Juneau 45-foot Response Boat-Meduim Read More »
- Vintage Fishing Boat, F/V Roann, to Highlight First Cape May Port Commercial Fishing Festival
  
  Her name’s Roann and she’ll be showing off her stuff to curious landlubbers June 6 and 7 at the Lobster House Docks. Roann may be the Read More »
- With no transgender emoji, #ClawsOutForTrans hijacks the new lobster icon
  
  The lobster has become an unlikely ally in the transgender community’s push to be represented by a pictoral icon, as calls mount for greater online and Read More »
- Oceana’s Geoffrey Shester says NOAA fails to connect the dots to Sardine overfishing, pushing the stock over the edge
  
  History repeats as the Pacific sardine population collapses and California’s iconic ocean wildlife feels the impacts. The Pacific sardine population has collapsed 90 percent since 2007 Read More »
- Demand, Prices Up for Succulent Yukon River Chums
  
  Autumn has set in on Alaska’s Lower Yukon River, where the fall harvest of those oil-rich Yukon chum salmon is in progress, a fishery that feeds Read More »
- The Sheriff, The Chief, and The Saltwater Cowboy Smugglers from Marco
  
  As it turned out, the Sheriff was a really well-made shrimp boat. She had been made with the classic long leaf yellow pine and she was well balanced Read More »
- 4 things to watch for in Canada’s new Fisheries Act
  
  The federal government will unveil long-awaited changes to Canada’s Fisheries Act later today. For federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, this is a rhetoric-meets-reality test on several Read More »
- Fish and Game hopes research initiative will help to better manage king salmon
  
  KENAI – The state of Alaska is spending millions of dollars to try and solve the mystery of what’s happening to the king salmon population. For Read More »
- Ghost Fishing Off Long Island’s Coast
  
  On the deck of the vessel Christine & Jennifer, a dozen tiny mud crabs, each smaller than a fingertip, scuttle out of a rusty lobster trap. Read More »
- Using Intimidation, China tries to create new fishing areas on the East Sea
  
  VietNamNet Bridge – Colonel Le Thanh Van said China was trying to create new fishing areas in the East Sea (South China Sea). Specifically, China strengthened Read More »
- Feds indict local fishermen, alleging multi-year fraud scheme
  
  Five fishermen from Maine and one fisherman from New Hampshire, along with a corporation, were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice in connection Read More »
- Crab Certification Audit Complete, as Crabbers Await Stock Survey Results – Walmart, again, is part of the conversation.
  
  Prices are down a bit, but demand remains strong, as harvesters of Alaska’s deadliest catch, albeit multi-million dollar crab fishery await stock survey results that will Read More »
- Northumberland fisherman barred from holding permit and fined nearly £2,500 for latest rules breach
  
  Charles ‘Michael’ Denton, of Atlee Terrace, Newbiggin, was prosecuted by the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NIFCA) after an inspection of his catch in Blyth Read More »
- Fishing Partnership Support Services – Health insurance open enrollment begins November 15th
  
  Feel free to contact us for assistance or if you have any questions about your health insurance You can reach us at (888) 282-8816 or visit our website Read More »
- Sardine fisherman hopes changing consumer attitudes will get his catch on dinner plates
  
  David Gray wants his fish on dinner plates. The Esperance commercial angler has spent years catching and selling sardines nationwide for bait. But a growing interest Read More »
- Naknek-Kvichak fishermen eagerly await the 16 million sockeye run to show
  
  With just 100,000 sockeye counted as harvest, and 65,000 counted as escapement, skippers and crew play the waiting game in Bristol Bay’s largest fishing district. The Naknek-Kvichak Read More »
- Lobsterman v. Lobsterman – Ropeless Fishing Divides Industry
  
  At a virtual hearing last night, the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF), presented the case of five commercial lobstermen who are seeking a Letter of Read More »
- UPDATED: Tsunami warnings canceled – 7.9 earthquake in Gulf of Alaska, tsunami warnings issued for coast
  
  An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 hit deep beneath the Gulf of Alaska early Tuesday, and a tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas Read More »
- New England Fishery Management Council meeting in Mystic, CT, April 19-21, 2016 – Listen Live!
  
  The public is invited to listen in to the New England Fishery Management Council’s April 19-21, 2016 Council meeting. This meeting is scheduled to begin on Tues., Read More »
- Inside the secret, million-dollar world of baby eel trafficking
  
  In the parking lot of an Irving gas station in Aulac, N.B., not far from the Nova Scotia border, Curtis Kiley popped the trunk of a Read More »
- Commerce secretary: Return $544K in fish fines – Bloomberg
  
  BOSTON (AP) — The acting U.S. Commerce Secretary on Friday ordered federal regulators to return about $544,000 in unjust fines collected from 14 fishermen or fishing Read More »
- The National Marine Fisheries Service Unacceptable Response to the New England Groundfish Disaster – Where is the Groundfish Mitigation?
  
  From the letter; In July 2012, the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) Executive Committee met with the National Marine Fisheries Service Acting Assistant Administrator Sam Read More »