LIFE HISTORY OF THE BLUE CRAB. th toa 
Second. During the month of October and the early part of November of each year 
large schools of crabs are found by the crabbers in the southern part of the Bay; in 
fact, the average daily catch per crabber is often higher during this time than at any 
other part of the summer season. A leading crabbing firm of Hampton, Va., has kept 
an exact record of the daily catch of each crabber selling to it since its inception in 1878. 
This firm very kindly placed these records at the disposal of the author. From the 
data thus obtained the average daily catch per crabber for each week of the summer 
y- 
re) 
hal 
Average number of barrels per man per da 
wv 
21 3 10 172431 7 14 2128 5 12 1926 2 10 16 2330 6 13 20274 If 1825 | 
Apr. May June July Aug. Sepk Ock Nov. 
Fic. 1.—Curve showing average daily catch of crabs per ‘crabber for each week during the summer season of ror7. 
The vertical line represents the number of barrels; the horizontal, the weeks. 
season was worked out for the years 1900 to 1902 and 1907 to 1917, all years inclusive. 
The results were plotted in the form of curves. That for the year 1917 is shown in text 
figure No. 1. It will be seen that the highest point of the curve is at the close of the 
season in November. Owing to the close season on sponge-bearing crabs during July 
and August, the curve for 1917 falls lower during those months than do the curves for 
similar periods in the years before the close season was established. The curve shown 
in text figure No. 2, for the year 1910 is typical of the condition obtaining in the southern 
