16 CRAB INDUSTRY OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. 
VIRGINIA. 
Nonresidents are not allowed to take crabs from Virginia waters. 
Residents are required to pay a fee of $2 for taking crabs by any 
means other than by the dredge. The fee for the use of the latter 
is $25. For each boat used in buying crabs a fee of $5 is required, 
for each picking and crating house $10, and each canning and pack- 
ing house $25. 
No hard crab measuring less than 5 inches from tip to tip of spike 
may be taken. It is unlawful to take sponge-bearing crabs between 
July 1 and August 1 of each year. Dredging for crabs can be engaged 
in only between November 1 and May 1. Crabs may not be taken 
at night or on Sunday. 
For the enforcement of the preceding regulations the following 
provisions have been made by the State: 
Licenses are obtained from the oyster and crab inspector of 
the district in which the crabber resides and are good for the year 
of issuance in any part of the State. 
For the purpose of the enforcement of both the oyster and the 
crab laws, the State is permanently divided by the State com- 
missioner of fisheries into 49 districts. To each of these, with 
the exception of 3, an inspector, appointed for two years by the 
commissioner, is assigned. In 3 cases 1 inspector has charge of 2 
districts. Each inspector attends to the enforcement of the laws 
relating to all sea foods in his district, issues the licenses, and is 
responsible to the commissioner. 
METHODS OF CATCHING. 
SOFT CRABS. 
Soft crabs and peelers are caught by the use of the dip net, scrape, 
and trot-line. 
Soft crabs are obtained from two sources. One of these is the 
crabs caught while in the soft condition, shortly after having shed; 
the other is the crabs which will shed within a few days if kept in 
captivity, the resulting soft crabs being marketed. The crabs which 
are soon to shed are known as “‘peelers.’’ When a crab approaches 
the shedding state, a narrow line appears on the outer margin of the 
next to the outer segment of the fourth pair of legs, or ‘‘back fins.” 
This line is white at first. A crab in which such a line is present is 
known as a “fat,” ‘green,’ or “‘snot’’ crab, and is not saved as it 
will be apt to die in captivity before shedding. If left upon the 
bottom, the line within a few days becomes pink in color and the 
crab is then a peeler. It will usually shed within a few days. Crabs 
bearing such a pink “sign,” or “ring,” are saved and kept in live 
boxes and floats until they shed. The bulk of the soft crabs handled 
are obtained by the ‘‘shedding out’’ of peelers. 
A certain percentage, however, of the soft crabs are taken when 
already in that condition. This practice is especially prevalent on 
the western shores of Virginia. The great majority of the crabs 
taken when soft are caught by the use of the dip net. 
Dre net (PI. I, fig. 1).—This consists of a one-fourth-inch iron rod 
bent into the form of a hoop about 1 foot across and carrying a cotton- 
mesh bag with openings about 1 inch square; the whole attached to 
