The 36th Bay-wide Winter Dredge Survey was conducted from December 2024 to March 2025 by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR). Results indicate the Chesapeake Bay blue crab stock is not depleted and overfishing is not occurring relative to reference points established in the 2017 stock assessment update. The total abundance of crabs in 2025 was 238 million crabs.

The 2011 Chesapeake Bay blue crab stock assessment recommended reference points be set with respect to the spawning stock, or the female population. The adult female population in 2024 was estimated at 108 million crabs, a decrease of 19% from 2024 and 25% below the geometric mean since actions were taken in 2008 to reduce fishing effort on female crabs. This abundance estimate of spawning-age female crabs is above the depletion threshold of 70 million crabs but below the target of 196 million crabs.

Since 2008, there has generally been a continuation of management measures by all Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions to conserve the spawning-age female crabs, including an ongoing closure of the Virginia winter crab dredge fishery. The winter crab dredge fishery closure may partially account for above average spawning-age female abundance in twelve of the seventeen years since 2008, because closing the winter crab dredge season allows pre-spawn female crabs to be free from fishing pressure during the winter after they mature in fall. Mature female crabs will spawn in late spring and summer of the same year in which the Bay-wide Winter Dredge Survey is completed.

Blue crab commercial harvest from Chesapeake Bay, as reported by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), MD DNR, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC), totaled 42.5 million pounds in 2024. This is a 7% decrease from 2023 and 28% below the mean commercial harvest since 1990. Virginia, Maryland, and the Potomac River accounted for 33%, 60%, and 7% of the Bay-wide harvest, respectively. Commercial harvest in Virginia’s tidal waters has been re-ported through the VMRC Mandatory Harvest Reporting Program as 15.4 million pounds with an estimated dockside value of $34.5 million.

Considering the decrease in crab abundance in 2025, the VMRC voted to maintain status quo from last year’s measures, keeping the bushel limits and most season dates constant. The only difference was the Commission voted to extend the season by four days to keep the last day of the season on a Saturday. The current crab pot season will close on December 20, 2025, and re-open on March 17, 2026, with low bushel limits in place until May 15. The season for all other commercial crab gears will end October 15, 2025, and re-open April 15, 2026.

Conservation of female spawning-age crabs as well as juvenile crabs is the primary management objective to attempt to lessen interannual fluctuations of the blue crab stock abundance. The extensive management measures from 2008 that were implemented throughout the Chesapeake Bay jurisdictions have helped to mitigate year-to-year variability in the fisheries that previously resulted in overfishing during many prior years (see Attachment 1). Juvenile crab abundance can vary because of inter-annual differences in the entrainment of crab larvae from the ocean to Chesapeake Bay. This process is subject to natural fluctuations in the prevailing current and wind patterns. Environmental fac-tors including weather conditions and predation can influence all life stages of the crab population. Additionally, year-to-year variation of predators, such as red drum, blue catfish, striped bass, and adult blue crabs, can affect juvenile blue crab abundance.

A new benchmark stock assessment for blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay is currently underway, following the recommendation of the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee (CBSAC). The stock assessment is expected to be complete and available for management consideration in spring 2026.