618 



MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



culled, and shoveled into barrels. The debris is thrown overboard. The average 

 catch of crabs by the dredge boats is about 10 barrels, but varies widely from 

 day to day. Catches as large as 50 barrels are occasionally reported. 



Formerly, few crabs were caught in Chesapeake Bay in winter; but in recent 

 years many dredge boats have operated throughout the winter, and consequently 

 several picking houses have remained open. 



The Crab Pot. The crab pot was introduced in the Chesapeake Bay area in 

 1938, It consists of a box 2 feet square, constructed of wire mesh on a rigid metal 



Fig. 29-6 



(.Courtesy U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service) 



The crab trap, or pot, commonly used in the 

 Chesapeake Bay area. 



frame and divided into a lower or bait chamber, which contains a cylindrical bait 

 cup in its center, and an upper or trap chamber. The crab, attracted by the bait, 

 enters, swims upward after grasping at the bait, goes through the opening into 

 the trap chamber, and is imprisoned. 



General practice is to set the pot with a buoy attached in about 4 fathoms of 

 water. In Maryland each licensee is limited to 35 pots; in Virginia, 50. Extensive 

 restrictions by state laws have been placed upon pots to keep them from harming 

 small crabs and other marine life and to keep them away from navigation channels. 

 To permit the escape of undersized crabs IM-inch mesh is prescribed. 



One man can fish a series of pots from one small boat. The average yield is 

 between 2 and 5 barrels per day, with peelers ranging around 1 per cent. The 

 bait most frequently used is salted fish heads or menhaden. At times of bait short- 

 age crab potters have been known to discontinue crabbing altogether. 



The fragility of the pot makes it liable to destruction in storms and very sus- 

 ceptible to corrosion from salt water. It is necessary to have new pots each season, 

 except in those cases where they are tarred periodically; often replacements are 

 required during the same season. They are usually constructed by the crabber 

 himself and the cost is small. An estimated 60,000 were operated in 1947 in 

 Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 



