Project Title: Evaluating the impacts of recreational fishing on the blue crab fishery in Maryland

Project Goal: To estimate the size of the recreational blue crab fishery in Maryland, and to understand the scale of male crab movement among tributaries of Chesapeake Bay.

Project Description:
The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is an iconic species of the Chesapeake Bay, supporting the Bay's most lucrative commercial fishery and a thriving recreational fishery. The fishery is a complex one with both commercial and recreational sectors, multiple types of fishing gear and effort (e.g., pots, trotlines, handlines, traps and other gear), multi-jurisdictional management (Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission), and a variety of markets (live hard crabs, soft crabs, picked crab meat, etc.). Over the past 50 years, the U.S. recreational sector has increased and is now an important factor in fisheries management. Research on the ecological, social and economic impacts of the recreational sector continues to lag behind that of the commercial sector and since managers use both the recreational and commercial sector harvests to calculate future harvests, it’s imperative that we have accurate recreational harvest data.trotlines, handlines, traps and other gear), multi-jurisdictional management (Maryland, Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission), and a variety of markets (live hard crabs, soft crabs, picked crab meat, etc.). Over the past 50 years, the U.S. recreational sector has increased and is now an important factor in fisheries management. Research on the ecological, social and economic impacts of the recreational sector continues to lag behind that of the commercial sector and since managers use both the recreational and commercial sector harvests to calculate future harvests, it’s imperative that we have accurate recreational harvest data.

In 2008, the harvest of female blue crabs was banned for the recreational sector while the commercial sector continued to harvest both male and female crabs. Understanding the impact of banning recreational harvest of females in Maryland has been highlighted as a critical research need, particularly since it may have unintentionally increased the harvest of males. Because the recreational fishing community is not required to report crab harvests in Maryland, recreational harvest must be estimated. Previous estimates were based upon interviews with the recreational fishing community. This method can be fraught with complications involving memory of the previous fishing season’s harvest events and number of blue crabs harvested during each event.

Our Approach:
In previous years (2001, 2002, 2005, 2011), recreational harvests were estimated at 8% of the commercial harvest. To provide a new estimate of recreational harvest for 2015 and help validate the interview-based estimate, our study used a tag-reward system where tagged blue crabs were released in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. Rewards of $5 or $50 were paid to both recreational and commercial crabbers who reported their capture of our tagged blue crabs. Additional details about capture location, fishing gear, and other information were collected to help us understand blue crab movement in the Chesapeake Bay. Unlike the interview method, this tag-reward system generates an independent estimate of the recreational fishery size. When completed (in late 2016), our study is expected to increase certainty in the estimated size of the recreational blue crab fishery and help produce accurate blue crab harvest projections for the future.