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Why Is the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Population Crashing?
May 28, 2025
Blue crab numbers have reached the second-lowest level in 35 years. Here’s what we know, and what we don’t.
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Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Population Drops to Distressing Low
May 22, 2025
Blue crabs in Maryland and Virginia have dipped to the second lowest number in recent history, according to results from the annual blue crab winter dredge survey conducted jointly by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
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Virginia Regulators Vote Against Extension of Blue Crab Harvest
October 28, 2024
Virginia state regulators decided against lengthening the blue crab harvest season on Oct. 28, maintaining previously adopted regulations for a struggling population that supports one of the Commonwealth’s most valuable and iconic fisheries.
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A Blue Crab Mystery
October 17, 2024
The population isn’t crashing, but it isn’t exactly thriving either. What’s going on?
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Virginia Regulators Reverse Course to Keep Ban on Winter Blue Crab Season
September 24, 2024
In a significant reversal, Virginia state regulators Tuesday killed the possibility of opening the blue crab winter harvest for the upcoming 2024/2025 season.
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Virginia Opens Winter Blue Crab Harvest Despite Opposition
June 25, 2024
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) voted 5-4 on June 25 to reopen the winter crab dredge fishery, going against VMRC’s staff recommendation and nearly 200 public comments in opposition to the reopening.
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Reopening Virginia’s Winter Crab Season a Mistake Amid Lackluster Crab Numbers
June 20, 2024
Despite Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) staff’s advice to keep the winter crabbing season closed, the Blue Crab Management Advisory Committee voted at their May 29 meeting to support opening the winter dredge fishery for the 2024-2025 season.
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Bonjour Blue Crabs: Low in Chesapeake, On the Rise Elsewhere
June 14, 2024
While the recent blue crab survey showed numbers remain low for blue crabs in the Chesapeake, this iconic Bay species is showing up in wildly unexpected places across the globe, including France, Croatia, and Maine.
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Chesapeake Blue Crab Numbers Remain Low Despite Signs of Improvement
May 22, 2024
The Chesapeake Bay blue crab population showed some signs of improvement from a previous 33-year low in recent survey results, but concerns remain about their overall decline.
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Save the Bay News: Restoration, Wetlands, and Saving Striped Bass
June 29, 2023
Progress toward clean water includes the need for a greater focus on the Bay's 'living resources,' such as blue crabs and striped bass, as well as placing more emphasis on the places and pollution that most affect the Bay's human communities.
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VMRC Takes Action on Blue Crabs, Striped Bass
June 27, 2023
The recovery of both blue crabs and striped bass depends on careful management of the fishery and accelerating work to improve water quality and habitat in the Bay.
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What's Going on with the Chesapeake Bay's Blue Crabs?
June 13, 2023
After falling to record lows in 2022, blue crabs are on the rise—albeit a modest one. CBF scientist Chris Moore explains why there's still reason for caution.
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Save the Bay News: Outdoor Learning, Blue Crabs, and Bay Restoration
May 25, 2023
The simple idea of getting kids “out on the water, messing around in boats” has remained at the core of CBF’s award-winning environmental education programs for 50 years—an anniversary milestone celebrated by the stories in this edition of Save the Bay News.
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Blue Crab Survey Results Show Improvement After All-Time Lows, but Concerns Remain
May 18, 2023
After reaching record low numbers last year, the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population is showing some signs of improvement in the 2023 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey results released today.
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Save the Bay News: Blue Catfish, Oyster Gardening, and a Trout's Journey
March 24, 2023
This month, we explore the Bay's remarkable fisheries—from surveying blue crabs to controlling blue catfish to examining a trout hatchery. Read these stories and more.
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Many Questions Remain for Blue Crab Outlook
March 22, 2023
The season for catching Chesapeake Bay blue crabs is already underway in Virginia, and recreational crabbing will officially kick off in Maryland on April 1. Several boats have been plying the waters the past several months, however, to pursue the crustaceans not for steaming but for science.
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Five Things You Should Know from the 2022 State of the Bay Report
January 18, 2023
The Chesapeake Bay this month earned a D+ in CBF’s biennial report card assessing the watershed’s health. While the overall score remains unchanged from two years ago, there’s a lot going on below the surface. Here are five big takeaways.
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Save the Bay News: The Best of 2022
December 16, 2022
How do you sum up 2022? For the Chesapeake Bay, here are CBF's top stories of the year.
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Virginia Gov. Youngkin Proposes New Funding for Clean Water Programs
December 15, 2022
Today Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin proposed budget amendments that would be applied to Virginia’s biennial budget approved last June.
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Save the Bay News: An Ancient Fish in Danger, Farmer Funds, and Crabs
September 16, 2022
Our monthly roundup of engaging and educational content. This month we look into concerns over a proposed salmon factory, recent landmark federal legislation, crabs, and the latest survey of underwater grasses.
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Underwater Grasses: How Are They Doing?
August 30, 2022
Underwater grasses are a critical habitat in the Bay and its tidal rivers. We asked Dr. Beth McGee for an update on their status and what it means for the health of the Bay.
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CBF Encouraged by Virginia and Maryland’s Changes to Protect Declining Chesapeake Blue Crab Population
June 28, 2022
In response to the lowest abundance of crabs ever counted in the 33-year history of the Chesapeake Bay’s winter blue crab dredge survey, fishery managers at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Virginia Marine Resources Commission this week adopted new regulations designed to reduce the crab harvest.
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Eat Your Crabs, and Have Their Backs, Too
June 10, 2022
Blue crabs need our help and the most critical action we can take to help them is reducing the amount of pollution that flows into the bay.
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What to Do About Bay's Troubling Blue Crab Decline?
June 6, 2022
Two-prong approach needed to reverse decline of the iconic Chesapeake blue crab; scientists must research what's contributing to the species' decline, while fishery managers swiftly work to reverse it.
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Blue Crab Survey Results Show Downturn
May 19, 2022
Today the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and Maryland Department of Natural Resources released the results of the 2022 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, an annual estimate of the population of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. CBF Senior Regional Ecosystem Scientist Chris Moore issued this statement.
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