APFENDIX III APPENDIX III 
markets further inland. However, with demand and prices for 
blue crabs increasing, and processors having little difficulty 
selling to existing markets, large changes in market distri- 
bution are not necessary. Accordingly, neither industry nor 
State agencies in the Chesapeake see a need to actively 
engage in market development or promotional activities. 
The marketing potential for Pacific crabs is also high, 
providing domestic production can be increased. Demand has 
remained strong despite considerable increases in price, but 
supply has inhibited growth in the market. 
OBSTACLES INHIBITING GROWTH 
AND DEVELOPMENT 
Resource availability 
The major problem in the blue crab fishery is the wide 
variation in year-class abundance which adversely affects 
stability of the industry. There is insufficient information 
to determine whether the blue crab fishery can be maintained 
at any particular abundance level through conservation 
measures or whether the yield is wholly determined by natural 
factors. 
In the gulf, NMFS biologists believe that resource 
assessment data is insufficient to make quantitative evalu- 
ation of stock status. Records of blue crab landings in 
the gulf are only rough estimates of the total annual catch. 
For example, in Louisiana, the actual harvest, including the 
recreational catch, may be twice as high as that indicated 
in the landing records. 
While research data on environmental factors is limited, 
some problems have been identified. For example, sea grasses 
of Chesapeake Bay have been declining and in many areas eel- 
grass has completely disappeared. During their juvenile 
stages, Blue crabs as well as many other organisms depend 
upon the protection afforded by these grasses. State research 
is currently attempting to determine to what extent the crab 
is affected by the loss of this habitat. 
Chemical pollutants can also adversely affect the fishery. 
Due to contamination from a pesticide known as kepone, the 
State of Virginia, on December 17 and 18, 1975, ordered the 
entire James River and its tributaries from the fall line at 
Richmond to the mouth at Chesapeake Bay, closed to the taking 
of shellfish and finfish until the effects of this substance 
could be more fully determined. 
The closing of the James River has had serious economic 
implications for an estimated 150 fishermen who depend on it 
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