Chesapeake Bay blue crab population increases after record low in 2022

Here’s some relatively good news for everyone who’s already got their mallets and newspaper-covered tables ready to go: the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population is up.

That’s according to the newly-released 2023 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, an annual effort where scientists and fishery managers from Maryland and Virginia visit 1,500 sites to estimate how many crabs are in the bay.

This year’s number? 323 million — a significant increase from last year’s record-low of 227 million.

"I think there’s some good news in the dredge report and also reasons to be cautious as well," explained Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Scientist Chris Moore. "Our main indicators of blue crabs all went up. The number of juveniles went up, the total number of crabs went up, the number of adult females and the number of adult males went up. But they didn’t go up by so much that we can kind of take the breaks off."

Especially, Moore added, given that a lot of factors can affect the blue crab population, including predators, the weather, a lack of underwater grasses, and more.

So, what’s it all mean for you?

Yen Lee, the general manager of Bethesda Crab House, said the new report is potentially good news but don’t expect prices to drop.

"Price-wise, they’re on the high side because of what we’ve been dealing with the economy … With the inflation," he said.

Still, some crab lovers said – that’s ok with them.

"It’s worth it. I mean, we’ve saved up for this," laughed Sandra Williams.

To view the full dredge survey, you can click here.