BY MILES LAYTON

Some halfwit bureaucrat at the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) formulated a study that says there’s been overfishing of Blue Crabs – the study suggests cutting crabbers’ catch by half. 

If DMF puts measures in place to restrict the number of bushels of crabs that can be harvested, that’s going to be disastrous to crabbers and seafood companies in our region.

“This will be devastating for the crab industry,” said Tara Foreman, manager at Captain Neill’s Seafood of Columbia. “We will not be able to produce enough crabs daily to stay in business. This is going to affect the entire state.”  

NC Fisheries Association challenges that DMF’s study, and says the crab population is not in decline but has been growing.  

“It should also be noted that Blue Crab landings increased significantly in 2023 and again in 2024, and effort did not increase, suggesting abundance is increasing. All this considered, the NCFA opposes any changes until the State can produce a valid stock assessment as a basis for management,” said Glenn Skinner, Executive Director NC Fisheries Association.  

Tyrrell County will be very hard hit – not only will crabbers find it hard to make a living, but upwards of 200 workers may be out of work in Columbia. The ripple effect will hurt commercial businesses like grocery stores and gas stations.  

“This is something that’s definitely a big economical hurt,” said Tyrrell County Commission Vice Chairman Jordan Davis. “It would be an economical devastation to Tyrrell County if this passed because between the crab house and N-Seine Seafood, the amount of crabs they buy and pick and people they employ would be drastically decreased if they put this limit on the amount of crab fishermen can harvest.”

Tyrrell County Commission Chairman Nathan Everett added, “We might be looking at as many as 200 people out of employment because the system would close down. They could not operate. The margins are too close. This is one of the greatest economic threats to Tyrrell County that I’ve seen in my lifetime.” 

Waterman’s Way of Life

Let’s put commercial crabbing in perspective for folks who don’t spend a lot of time pulling crab pots from the water.  

Crabbing is hard backbreaking work – pulling the pots time and time again from the water – water that’s not always calm. And if you lose time because of the weather and there’s white caps in the Sound, then that’s a day you don’t get paid. Waterman don’t always have health or retirement benefits, so there’s that too.   

Blue Crab season in North Carolina is generally from late spring or early summer through fall. Harvested crabs are sorted by size into categories like small, medium, large, extra-large, and supers. Like catching anything else in the Sound, watermen can go out and have a good day, maybe 20 bushels filled with good sized 5-inch crabs or you can have a terrible day with crabs too small or not catch any at all.  Crabbing is regulated by the state, so there’s those challenges too.

By limiting the catch, there is less incentive, far less incentive, to go out on the water, especially after paying for diesel fuel for the deadrise workboats used by watermen, labor costs paid to crew and associated costs for crab pots/gear.

Then there is the joy – meaning the exact opposite, sorrow – of working all day only to find that market prices have fluctuated, meaning you can make more money serving french fries. Watermen never know how much they will earn in a season.   

Flashback – when the crab population plummeted in the 2000s in the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and Maryland imposed a series of new restrictions that included the closure of the winter crab market.  

This turn of events dramatically affected Tangier Island, Virginia, the soft-shell crab capital of the world.  

When the new rules were announced in 2009, Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge told Smithsonian Magazine, “It was really a down time on the island… I termed it like a hurricane, when a storm is coming and you don’t know what’s on the other side.”

Side note — Ooker Eskridge is still hard at work as one of the best watermen on the Chesapeake Bay.

“Trust the Science…” — What NC Division of Marine Fisheries Says

From DMF’s study – click here – Given these considerations, the DMF recommends management measures focus on limiting harvest of Blue Crabs during biologically important times of year (e.g., mating and spawning seasons), and specifically limiting harvest of mature females. Only management measures projected to rebuild spawner abundance to a higher level with a much higher probability of success are considered. In consideration of Blue Crab life history and Blue Crab fishery the DMF initially recommends Option 8.a, a 10-bushel limit for mature female Blue Crabs from June-December and no harvest of mature female Blue Crabs from January-May. 

The DMF also recommends maintaining existing season closures and all other Blue Crab management measures currently in place. In combination, these management measures would effectively reduce harvest by an estimated 21.7 percent compared to average landings from 2019-2023, which should increase the spawning stock biomass, and promote increased recruitment. (Emphasis added) 

NC Fisheries Association’s Perspective

The North Carolina Fisheries Association advocates for sustainable fisheries, preserving fishing heritage, and promoting wild-caught North Carolina seafood.

From the Fisheries Association’s weekly update, the Marine Fisheries Commission has outlined 8 options to reduce commercial blue crab harvest. These options range anywhere from an 11.6% to a 51.6% harvest reduction.

The most “liberal” management option is a 20 bushel mature female limit September through December with a no mature female harvest January through May.

The most restrictive management option is a 10 bushel hard crab limit year-round.

The current state Division of Marine Fisheries recommended management option is a 10 bushel limit for mature female blue crabs from June through December and a no harvest of mature female blue crabs January through May for a 21.7% harvest reduction. (EMPHASIS ADDED)

Make Your Voices Heard

The timeline on this issue is a rather quick one. The draft Blue Crab Amendment 3 Adaptive Management will be presented to the ACs and up for public comment in March.

Although no MFC action is required on this issue at the meeting, this is the time to show up, comment, and talk about what you are seeing on the water. They do not have the necessary information to be asking for these harsh reductions and you need to tell them why!

After public comment and AC review the MFC will vote on final approval of the preferred management measures at their May 2025 meeting.

MFC will meet March 12-13 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5353 N. Virginia Dare Trail, Kitty Hawk, N.C. 27949.

The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, with a public comment session. The commission will also hold a public comment session at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, to allow additional opportunity for in-person comments; however, due to schedule constraints, the commission will vote on some agenda items prior to the 6 p.m. comment session. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 13.

Although no MFC action is required on this issue at the meeting, this is the time to show up, comment, and talk about what you are seeing on the water. They do not have the necessary information to be asking for these harsh reductions and you need to tell them why!

The public may also submit written comments via the following methods:

• An online form accessible through the Marine Fisheries Commission Meetings webpage.
• Mail to Marine Fisheries Commission Meeting Comments, P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557.
• Dropped off at the Division of Marine Fisheries’ Morehead City Headquarters Office at 3441 Arendell St., Morehead City. 

Limiting the crab harvest affects folks who work on the water and those who enjoy crabs seasoned with old bay.    

“So basically, Marine Fisheries is using outdated data or incorrect data, as their most recent study, and that was already proved by two different organizations to be faulty.” Davis said. “They’re using that particular study to limit the harvest of hard crabs in the Albemarle Sound. So this will affect Chowan, Tyrrell, Washington, Perquimans, Hyde and Pasquotank counties.”

Everett said by limiting the catch, that would affect the whole industry moving throughout the year.  

“It is going to be devastating. The crabbers estimate that the crab catch that they are trying to limit and control will be reduced possibly to 10 bushels a day and 20 is break even. So that is an issue that affects the crabbers themselves, but more importantly the crabs that they’re trying to limit being caught is what the crab processors make their real money off of. That’s when they catch them, they catch them at a low price.”

Everett continued, “They store them and then they process them all year long. We’re looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of possibly 200 people that would be directly and immediately affected if the crab houses were to close.” 

Columbia would be devastated, perhaps long term.  

“The thing about those individuals who are employed there, they spend an awful lot of money with their merchants because it’s convenient and it’s easy,” Everett said. “I mean we’re talking, if they were to leave, we’re talking catastrophe issues in Tyrrell County. Everything from the Food Lion to the Dollar General to the gas stations would have a noticeable effect. They would see further population decline – about a third of the population of Columbia would go away. It’s a very serious situation.”  

Glenn Skinner, Executive Director NC Fisheries Association, said the DMF’s study is flawed because it does not have a stock assessment for Blue Crab, meaning they have no scientific justification for the management measures they’ve proposed. He said state law requires that fisheries are managed for a sustainable harvest, through a Fishery Management Plan (FMP), and that FMP’s have a stock assessment for all multi-year species such as Blue Crab. Sustainable harvest is determined by comparing current abundance estimates and estimated removals to sustainability thresholds, none of which can be determined without a stock assessment. 

Skinner said DMF is trying to get around this by using the adaptive management strategy, approved in Amendment 3 to the Blue Crab FMP, and basing decisions on the 2018 stock assessment results. Adaptive management allows the DMF Director to quickly make management changes without amending the FMP but has a set criteria for how it can be used, outlined in Amendment 3.

“In our opinion, the Amendment 3 adaptive management strategy does not allow for changes without an updated stock assessment,” he said. “In fact, adaptive management requires DMF to update the 2018 assessment and base any changes on the results of that updated assessment. The Division updated the assessment in 2024 but determined there were issues and that it could not be used to inform management decisions.” 

Skinner continued, “This said, the NCFA does not see a legal way for the Marine Fisheries Commission to move forward with the proposed changes to the Blue Crab FMP.  We have shared our concerns with DMF Director, Kathy Rawls, and requested an explanation of how they determined changes can be made. As of today (Thursday) we have received no response from the Division.”