The Blue Crab Fishery in North Carolina



General Info          Harvest           Fishery Trends

General Information

• Blue crabs are a tasty seafood, and are consumed in crab cakes, she-crab soup, and as soft shell crabs, among others
• Blue Crabs are North Carolina's most valuable fishery
• Blue crabs can generate $100 million or more yearly through dockside value and processed blue crab products
• More pounds of blue crabs are caught in North Carolina than any other seafood species
• More North Carolinians are employed by the blue crab industry than any other fishery

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Harvesting Blue Crabs

• 95% of blue crabs are caught with a crab pot, a baited cage that allows small crabs to escape while keeping large ones

• 89% of crabs caught are landed between May and October
• 96% of crabs caught are hard crabs, the rest are soft or peeler crabs
• Blue crabs are also caught recreationally, though the amount caught by recreational fisherman is unknown
• Blue crabs must be 5" from point to point (carapace width) to be harvested; However, this size limit does not apply to mature females, soft, or peeler crabs
  
  
  
  Sponge crab, photo courtesy of Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

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Fisheries Trends

Before 1999

• From 1987-1999, commercial landings continuously increased
• In 1999, three consecutive hurricanes hit the coast of NC, causing massive flooding. Catch efficiency increased 369%.
• Blue crabs may have been easier to catch in 1999 as a result of the flooding concentrating blue crabs to small pockets of higher salinity water
  
  2000-2002
• Overall abundance down 73% from previous 10 year average, in terms of catch per unit effort (CPUE)
• Blue crab spawning stock catch per unit effort at historically low levels, 72% below the previous 10 year average
• Young of the Year (YOY) catch per unit effort down 64% from previous 10 year average
• Postlarval settlement down 84% from the 1996-1999 average

Data obtained from fishery dependent sources

• Decrease is seen in average size of mature females (from 1996-2002)
• An increase is seen in the proportion of extremely small mature females (from 1996-2002)
  
  2003-2004
• During 2003 spawning stock biomass returned to average levels, but declined to low levels in 2004.
• Postlarval settlement remains low, possibly indicating that the blue crab population has not returned to pre-2000 levels.
• More detailed information on the status of the NC blue crab opulation may be found at http://www.ncseagrant.org/elements/research_files/00FEG11.pdf
• As more information becomes available in 2005, we will better understand if the blue crab population is recovering or remaining at historically low levels.
  
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