![]() Together with record prices, this increasing fishing pressure threatens crab populations. ![]() With the collapse of the oyster and substantial decline of the rockfish (both at least partially due to overfishing allowed by DNR), watermen have shifted to crabbing. This worrisome data should be an alarm bell for DNR to act forcefully to protect the crabs from increasingly intensive fishing pressure as scarcity drives up crab prices to record levels reaching $495 for a bushel of jumbos. Importantly, the survey revealed that mature females are well below the critical goal of 196 million set by the same fishery managers and have been below this level in nine of the last 11 years.ĭNR also fails to mention how this year’s major decline comes on top of last year’s 32% decline in total crab numbers and a drop in juvenile crabs of 41%. ![]() She notes how this is above the threshold established by fishery managers but omits the fact that adult female crabs last year were at their lowest level since 2015 and declined by 17% from 2019 to 2021. The DNR secretary touts management success by cherry-picking one data point indicating that spawning age females increased from 141 million in 2020 to 158 million in 2021.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |