Wait?! Give these guys government handouts because they over fished their own shore? WTF!

This si so true. As a kid in the 70's, we'd crab in the summers and we'd catch more crabs than we could eat...every year it was less and less. It's really sad. this is one of the reasons we support the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which does great work for the bay.

A lot of my fellow Marylanders are horrified to learn that local "Marrlinn Crabcakes" are produced using crabs from the Gulf. It's a shame that our state government sits on their hands on this matter, big time.

I second dallas' comment. These guys purposefully overfished their waters. They pursposefully reduced the crab to virtually nothing. Why should we pay them for it?

I agree with dallas. WTF!!!

How about $20 million to help re-establish the stock instead.

to all the people yellin, you know it was not all MDers and VAers, right? fishermen over-fished the bay, and they're not going to benefit from the clean-up as much as we all will. screw the crabbers.

besides, there's WAY worse with the bay than the crab population, none of which was caused by fishermen.

a lot of it come from other states' pollution.

but, you know, the idea of the federal government helping states in trouble. that's crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also agree with Dallas, what the heck is going on? Enjoy your failure to find a resource you destroyed.

Agreed, they're in a disaster entirely of their own making. Why are they rewarding the culprits when they should be focusing on preventing the extinction of those crabs?

Actually the real problem is they have such tight restrictions on catching Rockfish and the Rockfish eat a lot crabs. It's time to overfish the Rock for a few years and let the crabs take care of re-populating.

"Enjoy your failure to find a resource you destroyed."

this is needlessly contentious and just mean. if you apply that to everyone everywhere who made mistakes, we'd all be in trouble. if you're that negative and pessimistic, whey are you reading th?

besides, to everyone who might think they understand the situation and condemn md and va, A LOT of what's wrong with the bay and what kills crabs comes from states upstream, in from the atlantic. this is not a clear-cut case of simple over-fishing, though that is largely to blame.

but i guess negativity and "screw them" is easier to say. but, totally, let's apply that globally. we'd never help anyone. we'll just let the planet die because it's allegedly not OUR fault. the dirty oceans that help dirty the bay, cars help that. you own a car? you walk anywhere? when you get a heart condition because you drive everywhere, you think the world and the government would abandon you?

i'm upset at the heartlessness of some th readers.

The problems with the Chesapeake Bay stem from many sources and are not simply a result of overfishing. There are 6 states whose waters flow into the Bay. Unfortunately, those who don't live near the Bay are likely not very concerned with what happens to it. While industry, sewage treatment plants, and development are responsible for many pollution problems, the truth is that those of us living within the Chesapeake Bay basin are all accountable for the health of our waters. The majority of Americans (~80%) are substantially misinformed about stormwater pollution, for example, yet so much of what we do contributes to it. Trash and synthetic lawn fertilizers are two examples of household contributions to pollution. The health of the Bay is the responsibility of all of us. If you enjoy crabs, boating, fishing, swimming, ..., why not give something back to Bay health by learning how you can help? I write about this very topic: www.commonwaters.net .

This makes me sad. Because of my location, Maryland Blues were within 100 miles of my house, and were a great treat when paired with a locally grown salad and a locally brewed beer.

Guess what? The issue is much more complicated than simple overfishing. The crabs are declining for more reasons that pollution or overconsumption. Don't let that stop your vitriolic responses, though.

In addition to Valerie's excellent post above, one of the reasons why crab populations have declined so much recently is because of the conservation of rockfish stock. Several years ago, rockfish populations plummeted for a variety of reasons, and strict limits were placed on their capture. Their populations rebounded, yet the limits remained in place. Unfortunately, rockfish love to eat baby blue crab, and an increase in rockfish populations resulted in a decline in crab populations.

Additionally, the swan population has contributed to additional declines. Swans (an invasive species here) like to dine on sea grass, which is the spawning ground of the blue crab. Since no one wants to work on solutions to the destruction that swans wreak here, the blue crab suffers.

Sorry to introduce complexity into the subject. It must be easier to be reactionary and place blame arbitrarily instead of using critical thought to find solutions to tough problems.

/Native Marylander

Just incase anyone is interested...

The lifecycle of a maryland blue crab is as follows:

egg-Zoea-Megalops-Juvenile crab-Mature Crab

Also, these crabs migrate laying eggs at the mouth of the estuary. As the crabs grow they migrate up the bay, then migrate back to the mouth in the winter.

Rockfish migrate north in the bay during the summer and toward the mouth of the bay in the winter

How about VA and MDers here become Cyclists for the Bay instead of posting worthless vitriol? You get some stickers for your bike and can join in volunteer-based conservation efforts...

what if we're already cyclists? :)