Salt in the Wounds

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Chasing a Dwindling Crab Population
A chilly spring and dry summer have wreaked havoc on Md.'s already struggling crabbing industry.

In Maryland waterfront communities including Galesville, Solomons Island and Bozman, south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, crabbers tell a different story.

VanAlstine, who goes crabbing near the West River in Anne Arundel, said that last summer he averaged eight to 11 bushels of top-grade blue crabs daily. On Thursday, after spending eight hours on the water, he had just 1 1/2 bushels.

"They're not feeding," he said. "They're not coming into the pots."

VanAlstine sells the top-grade crabs for $140 a bushel, but he struggles to break even -- especially with bait and fuel costs that average $300 daily.

"Right now, it's all about keeping our heads above water, knowing that when we get some freshwater back, we'll be fine," he said.

Restaurateurs, too, are feeling the pinch. The short supply of crabs has increased the prices some restaurants are paying. At Robertson's Crab House along Pope's Creek in Charles County, owner Billy Robertson said he is paying a 30 percent premium on crabs compared with last summer's prices.

"We're not able to inflate our prices to meet the cost that's being dealt to us," Robertson said. "If you inflate your prices, then people will probably go elsewhere."

This past week's scattered rainfall coupled with more rain in the fall could help lower the salinity in the bay and lift the unease hanging over the crabbing season.

"Right now, the harvest is down, but we anticipate a big harvest this fall," said Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen's Association.

But the rain might not come soon enough for some of area's watermen.

"The crabber won't be able to recoup what he's lost all summer, because he can't get the money for them," Simns said.

Added P.T. Hambleton, a waterman from Talbot County: "I think the damage is done."

In the end, though, the drought may be a boon for the long-term health of the bay's crab population, said Rom Lipcius, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. If female crabs release their eggs from farther north in the bay, the tiny crab larvae are not as likely to be flushed all the way out into the ocean, he said, which means more crabs could grow to maturity in the bay.

The drought could also be a good omen for another Chesapeake shellfish: the oyster. When water is saltier, Lipcius said, oyster larvae are also more likely to survive and "set" on hard surfaces on the bay bottom. That would be the start of a welcome trend for the bay's oyster, whose population is as little as 1 percent of its historic high because of chronic disease, pollution and previous overfishing.

For blue crabs, then, "I would say that the drought is likely to be a good thing," Lipcius said. "And for oysters as well."