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