While crabbing may be a fun pastime, there are a lot of rules in order to preserve the Maryland Blue Crab population. There are two main guidelines when crabbing, which deal with the amount of crabs you can catch in a day and what crabs you are able to keep. The crab population in Maryland often fluctuates due to several reasons, one being natural causes, and the other unfortunately, overfishing. So, the State of Maryland creates restrictions on how many crabs you can catch per day. As of now, one person is allowed one bushel of crabs per day, and a boat consisting of two or more people are allowed only two bushels. This rule will vary depending on the crab season and the estimated population.
To the more specific rule, you are only able to keep certain crabs depending on their size. Male and female crabs are both viable options during crabbing season, but the size is the most important aspect to preserve the population and keep mating rates high. Crabbers will measure crabs by using a gauge that measures the tips of the crabs shell (shown in the picture below). On average, the legal tip length to keep blue crabs is five inches, anything over that is good to keep. Monitoring the amount of crabs and the size of the crabs are crucial to keep the blue crab population thriving.
