Sustaining the Cheasapeake Bay Blue Crab

Callinectes sapidus or the Blue Crab has been called the Bay’s most valuable economic resource and holds a special place in the hearts of Marylanders, earning it the esteemed title of state crustacean. For decades blue crab harvests have risen and fallen, most likely connected with climate and other factors taking place that we still do not yet fully understand. Since the 1990s, however, concern has grown that pressure on the blue crab – both commercial and recreational – may be too high.

Despite the integral role it plays in the state and ongoing research efforts for more than 100 years, we have only a limited knowledge of this famous crustacean.

Scientists at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science led the first comprehensive assessment of blue crab populations in the Chesapeake Bay, which was used by the Bi-State Blue Crab Advisory Committee to set an overfishing threshold in September 2000 in an effort to preserve this vital resource.

According to UMCES scientist Tom Miller, much still remains to be learned about the crab’s ecology and exploitation. Miller leads a team of scientists who continue to research the crab and are currently studying the blue crab’s growth rates through laboratory and field studies in the Chesapeake Bay and the Hudson River. The data collected are being used to develop a spatially-explicited matrix projection model of crab population dynamics.

The lack of knowledge of patterns in crab growth has been one of the deficiencies limiting our ability to regulate exploitation rates to ensure a sustainable population,” states Miller. “In an effort to help regional management agencies develop more precautionary exploitation rates, we have developed management targets to guide exploitation.”

Working in conjunction with the Maryland Sea Grant College and other peer research organizations, UMCES strives to continue educating the public about Blue Crabs and preservation efforts.

For more information about ongoing Blue Crab research at UMCES, visit Maryland Sea Grant’s Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake information site; or the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory scientist Tom Miller’s website. The Maryland Sea Grant College is also developing a scientific textbook summarizing current scientific knowledge of the blue crab that should be published by 2002.

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