The state is following through on its promise to ease crabbing restrictions for watermen this fall, officials announced Wednesday morning.
Watermen will be allowed to catch female crabs during a nine-day period in September and October that was originally supposed to be a no-harvest period for females.
Fall is an important time during the crabbing season, especially for Eastern Shore watermen who catch females as they migrate to the salty waters of the lower bay. Those female crabs are mainly bought by Eastern Shore picking houses that sell tubs of crab meat to restaurants, seafood markets and grocery stores.
Already this year, watermen have been banned from keeping females in the first half of June and they've had catch limits during other parts of the season. And they'll still be banned from keeping females for the last few weeks of the season in November and December.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Capital (Annapolis, M.D.).