Crabbing Regulations

12 Pages 3043 Words

largest harvest recorded of 60 million pounds in 1981 (Wesche 2002). Graph 2 shows the fall in the yield in recent years (Maryland Sea Grant 2002). Numerous factors are believed to have led Maryland to the controversial employment of the latest regulations. Scientists and Bay organizations have backed these moves to manage and restore the population; however the effects of such restrictions have created much worry in the crabbing industry. The struggle is to find the ideal balance between the two sides.



Reasons for recent regulations
The need for these new regulations comes from numerous problems, in addition to over-fishing, that have led to the decline of the blue crab population. The most prominent issues facing the bay are not so obvious. Increased sediments in the water, an overabundance of nutrients, and an overpopulation of striped bass are to blame for a large portion of the decline in blue crab populations (Chesapeake Bay Program September 2001).
Erosion has become an ever-growing phenomenon in the bay caused by huma...