They enjoyed a busy oyster season this winter, at least. Watermen are used to dealing with cuts to their harvest quotas, but have no insurance or government subsidies like farmers would during a bad season, he said. Brown, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, said he worries that limiting the male crab harvest for the first time may be “a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction” that could have a significant impact on the state’s seafood industry.
“The measures we’re taking are warranted for this year, and we’re going to evaluate again in 2023.” “We want to see good above-average juvenile abundance next year,” McClair said. The hope is that the new restrictions on male crab harvests will at least stop the downward trend in crab abundance, if not help the species rebound significantly. “Across the whole Chesapeake population, we estimate that limits the total number of fertilized eggs produced by the population by 5 or maybe as much as 10% compared to if no females were sperm limited at all.” “In places where there is a really intensive fishery for males, we see females that receive less sperm,” said Matt Ogburn, a senior scientist at the center. Because females mate only in the first few days after maturing and use those sperm to spawn the rest of their lives, some end up with a diminished capacity to reproduce. A team of scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Anne Arundel County found in two studies that a smaller male crab population means each one mates more frequently, and often before he has regenerated stores of sperm. There is research to suggest that the elevated harvest pressure on male crabs could be limiting the overall population. As the number of male crabs has declined, reaching a record low this year, that threshold has been tested and, in at least one year, surpassed, she said. In any given year, to ensure a sustainable population and a proper balance of male and female crabs, the aim is to allow harvest of no more than 34% of the entire estimated population of male crabs, McClair said.
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