Some watermen see catch shares as way to manage blue crab fishery, hatcheries also could help
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Associated Press] By Brock Vergakis - November 24, 2014 -
HAMPTON, Va., The downtown waterfront here at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay used to be dotted with so many crab processing plants that Hampton was once known as Crabtown.
But after decades of declines in the blue crab population, only one of the original 13 processing plants downtown remains. And today, packages of fresh crab meat and crab cakes shipped out by Graham and Rollins to customers around the nation year-round are just as likely to come from another continent as they are from the waters in the Chesapeake Bay.
The Waterman's Association is calling for a pilot program that assigns individual harvest limits instead of restricting seasons.
UMBC have succeeded at getting female crabs to spawn millions of crabs in captivity at high growth rates year-round. Graham said that breakthrough could help revive the crabbing industry along the bay.
To Read Full Story Login Below.