CRABS in MD
 

Visiting Maryland this month and was wondering about where to get good crabs and how much on average a bushel is around Bay area. Also, do I need a license to crab around the Chesapeake or the beaches?

I haven't checked the prices of bushels lately, but the crab population is still low around here, so expect high prices, $35 for a dozen large males at a restaurant is not unusual. <BR><BR>As for crabbing, here's what I found on the Maryland DNR website:<BR><BR>INDIVIDUAL CRABBING<BR><BR>A license is required of an individual who uses the following gear or takes the following quantity of crabs: <BR> • Trotline (1200 feet of baited line maximum allowed) <BR> • 11 to 30 traps or rings <BR> • Up to 10 eel pots for own bait <BR> • More than 2 dozen with a limit of 1 bushel of hard crabs <BR> • More than 1 dozen with a limit of 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers <BR><BR>A license is NOT required of an individual who uses only the following gear and takes the following quantity of crabs: <BR> • 10 or fewer traps and rings <BR> • dipnets <BR> • handlines <BR> • No more than 2 dozen hard crabs <BR> • No more than 1 dozen soft crabs or peelers <BR><BR>http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/crab/2001crabproposal.html<BR><BR>Those regs are for the Bay, the beach areas may be different. Make sure to look up size requirements also, I believe the smallest you can keep is 5" tip to tip.

Thanks, Carolyn.<BR>I didn't realize crabs were so expensive over there. I thought Maryland was known for blue crabs!

A combination of crabber greed, overcrabbing, herbicide run-off from nitwits wanting to fertilize themselves to a perfect lawn, too many amateur crabbers, the resurgence of the rock fish (which eat large quantities of small crabs), the crabbing of female crabs and the tremendous DEMAND for crab is DESTROYING the crab industry in Maryland. About everyone involved in crabbing warrants criticism, especially the crabbers themselves who bellow at conservation measures. It is sad. Maryland may have destroyed its two oldest industries- tobacco and fisheries- within a generation.

that sounds personal... <BR><BR>

Yes, it's sad what has happened to the crabs. I remember a day when crabs were had for $45 a bushel, not to long ago either. I used to have crabs often during the summer months, now I indulge about once a year.<BR><BR>The best deals are the crab houses that offer all you can eat crab feast, usually $25-$30 a head. The crabs are the smaller size, but can still be yummy!

Thanks for all the replies. I will look forward to tasting these yummy crabs.

I'm not an expert, but I heard on the radio the other day that for the first time in years, there's an abundance of blue crabs this year, and that they are going for about $95 a bushel.