Virginia Regulators Reverse Course to Keep Ban on Winter Blue Crab Season

In a significant reversal, Virginia state regulators Tuesday killed the possibility of opening the blue crab winter harvest for the upcoming 2024/2025 season. 

The 4-1 vote by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) Tuesday approved a month-long public comment period that will solely consider keeping the 16-year ban on the winter blue crab harvest. Because regulators can’t vote on anything more permissive than what they asked the public to consider, the Tuesday vote ends the prospect of reopening the winter blue crab season for the upcoming season. At their October meeting, the VMRC will entertain potential modifications of the previously adopted crab pot season including a possible December extension and earlier opening next March. 

The vote Tuesday comes after months of criticism within Virginia and Maryland on VMRC’s previous decision to lift the restriction on the winter blue crab harvest. In June, despite their staff’s opposition, VMRC voted 5-4 to remove the prohibition on the winter dredge season, possibly subjecting the vulnerable keystone species to additional harvest over the winter months. 

The winter dredge fishery primarily targets female crabs, which are key to maintaining a strong blue crab population.  It involves scraping crabs using dredges, large, metal, rake-like structures, from the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay where they lie semi-dormant through the winter. Declines in the blue crab population led to a fishery disaster declaration in 2008. That year, closing the winter dredge fishery became one of numerous Chesapeake Bay–wide conservation measures enacted to address the disaster.

As a result, the crabbing season currently runs from mid-March through the middle of December in Virginia. 

Female blue crab numbers declined by nearly 20 million in the recent annual estimate of blue crab numbers in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. In 2024, according to the survey, the adult female crab population decreased to 133 million compared with 152 million last year. This figure falls far below the target of 215 million adult female crabs needed for a healthy population and sustainable harvest in the Chesapeake Bay.  

An ongoing stock assessment, a scientific study expected to shed new light on the factors affecting the Bay’s blue crab population, is expected in March 2026. 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Executive Director Chris Moore and member of VMRC’s Crab Management Advisory Committee released the following statement:  

“I am delighted the Commission followed the advice of its crab management advisory committee  and will not consider opening a winter dredge fishery this season.  The advisory committee identified numerous concerns about reopening such a fishery at this time.” 

“VMRC’s decision is a significant step toward a brighter future for the Bay’s blue crab population and helps ensure we have the best available science when making important decisions about Virginia’s blue crab fishery. This decision allows the scientific stock assessment of the many factors affecting the blue crab population to proceed without significant changes occurring in the fishery at the same time, paving the way for sound evidence-based management decisions of this essential species in the future. We applaud this vote.”