MILLER: NORTH AMERICAN CRAB FISHERIES REGULATIONS 



width in Delaware, Maryland, and one county in 

 Florida. This is slightly over the average size at 

 maturity and allows crabs to spawn at least once 

 before being subject to depletion by the fishery. 

 One bushel of undersized crabs is permitted in a 

 daily catch in Delaware. 



A 150-trap limit is enforced in small bays just 

 inland from Maryland's ocean beaches as the 

 peeler-crab (crab about to molt) fishery has 

 recently become intensive on the small popula- 

 tions in these bays. Baiting traps with live males 

 ensures a high proportion of females in the catch 

 which molt, then copulate. Effort control through 

 trap limits is an attempt to prevent rates of 

 female removal that would affect the ability of the 

 population to replace itself. 



Allocation of Landings Among 

 Commercial Fishermen 



A 150-trap limit for some areas in Delaware is 

 near the maximum most boats can fish per day and 

 controls the fishing power of the few fishermen 

 who would choose to fish more traps. 



North Carolina prevents the use of dredges 

 operated by power winches in one area. This 

 controls the fishing power of boats using dredges 

 for any species but was aimed primarily at the 

 oyster fishery. 



Conflict Over Grounds or Resource 



Sport fishermen have gear and catch limits to 

 control their competition with commercial fisher- 

 men and to distribute the available landings 

 among many sport fishermen. Limits are two 

 traps, four handlines, and one-bushel catch per day 

 in Delaware; one-bushel catch per day in Mary- 

 land; one trap which may not be fished from a boat 

 in North Carolina; and five traps in Florida. 



Most Maryland streams emptying into Chesa- 

 peake Bay are off" limits to traps to reserve the 

 areas for crab fishermen using trot lines. In North 

 Carolina, crab traps are excluded from some areas 

 from 1 April through 30 November to reserve the 

 areas for haul seines and shrimp trawls. Other 

 areas in North Carolina are designated for fixed 

 gears only, however, to protect them from towed 

 gears. 



Traps may not be set in marked navigation 

 channels (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina), 

 may not be set in water shallower than 4 feet at 

 mean low tide (Maryland), or may not be larger 



than 24 inches on a side (Maryland) because of the 

 hazard to navigation. Traps may not be set near 

 bathing beaches in Maryland because the presence 

 of fishing boats, discarded bait, and discarded dead 

 crabs interfere with the recreational use of the 

 beaches. 



Crab dredges (also rakes and scrapes) may not 

 be used on bottom leased for oyster propagation 

 except by the lease holder (Delaware) or on public 

 oyster grounds where oysters or shells have been 

 planted by the State (North Carolina). Dredging is 

 not permitted from 16 March to 15 December 

 (Delaware) or 1 April to 30 November (North 

 Carolina) since crabs are not buried in the bottom 

 during this time, and dredging is destructive to 

 both commercial molluscs and noncommercial 

 benthos. Maximum dredge weight is 100 pounds in 

 North Carolina and 40 pounds in Maryland to limit 

 destruction of bottom organisms by the gear. 



North Carolina and Texas restrict crab trawling 

 because of possible damage to shrimp stocks. Some 

 shrimp nursery areas are closed to crab trawling 

 since the resulting turbidity may be lethal to 

 shrimp (North Carolina). Mesh size on trawls may 

 not be smaller than 3-inch stretch measure when 

 used for hard-shelled crabs nor smaller than 2-inch 

 stretch measure when used for soft-shelled crabs 

 to allow shrimp to escape (North Carolina). The 

 5-inch minimum mentioned earlier serves the 

 same purpose in Texas. Trawls used for soft- 

 shelled and peeler crabs are limited to 25 feet in 

 width (float line length) to control damage to sea 

 grass beds where most of this fishing occurs (North 

 Carolina). 



Crab trawling is prohibited from 2000 h on 

 Saturday to 2000 h on Sunday to eliminate the 

 time conflict with fishers of men (North Carolina). 



Processing Economics 



Processors have requested that egg-bearing 

 females not be landed because of their low meat 

 yield (Texas). North Carolina prohibits trawling in 

 ocean inlets to interior bays from 1 April to 31 

 August because females incubating eggs are 

 concentrated in these areas: females are uneco- 

 nomical to process. 



Minimum shell width for hard-shelled crabs is 4 

 inches (Alabama) or 5 inches (Maryland, North 

 Carolina-10% undersized permitted). This pro- 

 tects the processor from pressure to accept small 

 crabs which are unprofitable to process. 



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