by Larry Chowning
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) voted 5-4 on June 25 to repeal a ban on winter crab dredging, consider a limited entry fishery, and before officially opening the dredge season, begin research on the future of the fishery.
The decision came on the heels of Virginia’s Crab Management Advisory Committee voting 10-2 in May to recommend the fishery be reopened with a 1.5 million-pound harvest cap.
Since the 2008 ban, commercial fishing lobbies have been working to bring the dredge fishery back, stating that it provides another fishery besides oystering in the winter for watermen, extends the Chesapeake Bay’s commercial winter picked-crab market to compete with surrounding states that allow winter dredging, and the winter harvest would have limited impact on the overall bay crab population.
The ban in 2008 was sparked in part by disturbing bay-wide crab survey results that showed in 2007 there were 251 million crabs in the bay, which was a drop from an 852 million high in 1993. Even more disturbing was….
