Are the new Regs working?

[donp]

With the restrictions on female Crabs and VA stopping winter dredging, earlier statics were showing higher indexes. Are you seeing an increase in juvenile, and female Crabs?

[rgminer]

I haven't seen too many young crabs in the upper bay, but I have seen lots of young crabs in the coastal bays...which is a little odd because there are no restrictions on female crabs there..This time last year I was catching a bushel at Sue Creek..this year I caught one crab. i hope it's weather related...

[longtail]

I havent talked to one crabber that agrees it has been a good year. All of them and even any recreational crabber I met and what I have read on here, say the same thing. It has been terrible out there.

[mburrows870]

I've only been out once on the Tred Avon and there were a ton of little and female crabs.

[longtail]

I read on another board someone had an idea to limit recreational crabbers to 2 dozen crabs per licensed crabber. I like the idea personally, but I d like to see the limit restriction lifted if that were to be put in place. If your boat can safely hold 20 people, and you have 20 licensed rec crabbers on board, you can keep 40 dozen crabs. If your boat can only hold 2 people according to your plate, and you have 4 people on board, then you have a citation for safety as well as over your limit. Would also like to see commercial trotliners reduced to 4 bushel.

I agree that 1 bushel for one recreational crabber is too much.
I also agree that 20 bushel for a commercial trotliner is too much as well.

Serious restrictions need to be put in place. Stop the spinning and stop catering to the people.

[Rod Bender II]

I think it all needs to be blamed on Gov. O'Malley and everyone else involved. This s*** ain't rocket scientist the problem was catching females has been legal for years and years! It is simple, you stop catching females for a year or 2 and let the production build up and see if that helps the population. I have been crabbing all my life and 95% of everyone I talk to only eats males anyway! Females are no good for eating or selling, i mean come on they sell for what $30 a bushel in the summer when crabbing is good. It just pisses me off so bad because the dumbest damn people are in charge of our summer fun. Fishing, crabbing, oystering, etc. Everytime I go in the Wicomico I just shake my head because of the color of the water. I remember my dad telling me when he grew up they went down to swim in the Wic and you could see your feet in shallow water it was that clear. I hope it isn't too late to turn these waters around....

[uno]

Too soon to see any results from the regulations. It will take a couple of years of increased spawning to start seeing the impact.

[BILL H]

I think it all needs to be blamed on Gov. O'Malley and everyone else involved. This s*** ain't rocket scientist the problem was catching females has been legal for years and years! It is simple, you stop catching females for a year or 2 and let the production build up and see if that helps the population. it was that clear. I hope it isn't too late to turn these waters around....

Now I am lost. I could have sworn that the restrictions came out during the current administration. Guess I must have been mistaken.

No, it's not rocket science. The rocket scientists are lucky, they are working with physical systems where the interactions are predictable, unline natural systems where they're many confounding factors. However, in the case of crabs, the scientists (rocket or otherwise) are not the ones making the regulations. It's the bureaucrats under the pressure of the politicians (whom we hope represent us) who make the regulations.

I think that we could see some positive results in the next WDS if the program is working, but my science background would prevent me from calling it a failure if we didn't see a significant rebound. Just as I would hesitate to call it an unqualified success if we saw a significant rebound. Especially after only a single year. I think the rocket scientists might agree. Too many variables to draw precise conclusions in a short time.

I don't think we can rely on anecdotal observations to draw conclusions either. Wait for a WDS or two.

[longtail]

Too soon to see any results from the regulations. It will take a couple of years of increased spawning to start seeing the impact.

Thats not entirely true. Thats what the DNR wants you to think, because the DNR alsways does everything on a 3 yr "trial" period. Try it for 3 yrs and then check the results.

[uno]

Thats not entirely true. Thats what the DNR wants you to think, because the DNR alsways does everything on a 3 yr "trial" period. Try it for 3 yrs and then check the results.

Facts are: any crabs that are spawned and survive because of the new regs. won't be big enough to affect the surveys and the catch before a couple of years.