August 5, 2014 — Despite two decades of regulations, crabs have again reached dangerously low levels. But a moratorium isn’t the answer. We can have a sustainable blue crab harvest in the Chesapeake Bay if we make real changes.
Regarding Angus Phillips’s July 27 Sunday Opinion commentary, “It’s now or never for blue crabs”:
The way we manage the fishery is not working. Despite two decades of regulations, crabs have again reached dangerously low levels. But a moratorium isn’t the answer. We can have a sustainable blue crab harvest in the Chesapeake Bay if we make real changes.
Virginia watermen have asked regulators for baywide total catch limits, allocations among the states and licensed fishermen and greater harvesting accountability. This would help conserve and stabilize the crab population and give our industry predictability.
Read the full opinion at The Washington Post