14 CRAB INDUSTRY OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. 
In the latter State, Hampton stands by far in the lead, handling more 
hard crabs than any other one point on the bay and at least three- 
fourths of the hard crabs shipped from Virginia. The congregation 
of the adult crabs upon the bottoms of the lower bay, during the 
winter, furnishes sufficient material to enable the houses at Hampton, 
ee Portsmouth, and Cape Charles to operate during most of 
the year. 
The soft-crab industry is engaged in from Accomac County, Va., 
on the Eastern Shore, and the Piankatank River on the western, 
northward as far as Baltimore. Crisfield is the center of this industry, 
being favored with very adequate shipping facilities, and located on 
the best soft-crabbing grounds of the bay, viz, Tangier and Pocomoke 
Sounds. 
SEASONS. 
SOFT CRABS. 
Since soft crabs are obtained only as a result of the molting of the 
young at the successive stages of growth and since this process takes 
place only during the warmer months, the soft-crab season occurs 
during the late spring, summer, and the early fall. In Virginia waters 
the season usually opens about the first of May or a little earlier, 
depending on the state of advancement of the spring. Crisfield firms 
begin taking the catch of the western shore of Virginia and of Tangier 
Island two or three weeks before soft crabbing is begun in Maryland 
waters. Soft crabbing usually ceases about the last of July or the 
middle of August in these Virginia counties, owing to the heat and 
the poor transportation facilities. During very hot weather, the 
soft crabs and peelers will not stand being kept until the day for the 
Baltimore boat, or the extra day involved in carrying them to 
Crisfield. The season usually closes in the latitude of Crisfield about 
the first or the middle of October. In the more northerly latitude 
of Annapolis and Baltimore, the season opens somewhat later than 
at Crisfield and closes earlier, extending from about the first of June 
to the middle of September or the first of October. 
HARD CRABS. 
The catching of hard crabs in Maryland waters is limited by law 
to the period between May 1 and November 1. This practically 
coincides with the natural trot-line season in this latitude. As the 
use of the trot-line depends on the seizing of the bait by the crab, 
this method of catching can not be practiced during the winter 
months, when the crab is numb and inactive from the cold. The 
law does not forbid the Maryland firms handling crabs which have 
been taken from the waters of Virginia. Five picking houses at 
Crisfield and a few at Baltimore remained opened during the winter 
of 1916-17, depending almost entirely upon the catch taken in 
Virginia waters by the dredge boats. A few crabs are taken in 
Maryland waters when dredging for oysters. These are allowed to 
be sold, as it is thought by those engaged in the industry that crabs 
so taken during the cold weather would die if thrown back into the 
water and would thus be wasted. Most of the crabs, however, 
migrate toward the lower part of the bay during the fall, and con- 
sequently not many are found in Maryland waters during the winter. 
