Rebounding from near-collapse four years ago, the Chesapeake Bay's blue crabs are more plentiful than they've been in nearly two decades, with a record crop of young, Maryland officials announced Thursday.
The annual winter survey of Maryland and Virginia waters found an estimated 764 million crabs baywide — two-thirds more than last year and the highest since 1993, officials said. The number of juvenile crabs nearly tripled to 587 million, the most seen since the survey began 22 years ago.
That should mean there'll be plenty of the crustaceans available this year, especially in late summer. But it's impossible to tell if they will be any less pricey, because the market is affected by supplies of crabs from other states and countries.
Gov. Martin O'Malley hailed the survey results, calling them further proof that catch restrictions imposed by the two states in 2008 have paid off.
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