“We are encouraged by the increases in adult crab abundance, but we need to be vigilant given the ongoing low recruitment numbers,” said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fishing and Boating Services Acting Director Lynn Fegley. Additionally, adult male crabs increased from 28 million crabs in 2022 to 55 million crabs in 2023.

The number of spawning age female crabs increased from 97 million crabs in 2022 to 152 million crabs in 2023, a substantial increase and well above the management threshold of 72.5 million crabs. The Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, a cooperative effort between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), estimates 323 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay in 2023, an increase from last year’s low of 227 million crabs. Maryland Department of Natural Resources phot0 Scientists and fishery managers from Maryland and Virginia visit 1,500 sites around the Chesapeake Bay to conduct the annual blue crab winter dredge survey.

Dredge report in chesapeake bay