Attempts To Boost Chesapeake Blue Crab Populations Failing - Populations Down 2/3 Since 1993

WASHINGTON - The Chesapeake Bay's famous blue crabs - feisty crustaceans that are both a regional symbol and a multimillion-dollar catch - are hovering at historically low population levels, scientists say, as pollution, climate change, and overfishing threaten the bay's ultimate survivor.

more stories like thisThis fall, a committee of federal and state scientists found that the crab's population was at its second-lowest level in 17 years, having fallen to about one-third the population of 1993. They forecast that the current crabbing season, which ends Dec. 15 in Maryland, will produce one of the lowest harvests since 1945. This year's numbers are particularly distressing, scientists say, because they signal that a baywide effort to save the crab begun in 2001 is falling short.

Governments promised to clean the Chesapeake's waters by 2010. But that effort is far off track, leaving "dead zones" where crabs can't breathe. Maryland and Virginia have changed their laws to cut back the bay's crab harvest. But watermen have repeatedly been allowed to take too many of the valuable shellfish, scientists say. The watermen, meanwhile, say they're being unfairly blamed.

"Now it appears that even the hardy blue crab is approaching its breaking point," said Howard Ernst, a professor at the US Naval Academy and a critic of government efforts to protect the Chesapeake. If the crab's population drops further, Ernst said, "what we ultimately lose is not only a resource, but a unique and irreplaceable cultural heritage."

EDIT

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/11/19/restoration_push_failing_chesapeake_crabs/

Rockfish populations were down in the bay for a long time, so they put big curbs on fishing. Now the rockfish population has recovered, and rockfish eat crabs. They are messing around with nature a little too much.

... algae "blooms" which after they die rob the water of oxygen and
from there you get "dead zones."

because the fertilizer runoff from that gets into the tributary streams that feed the Bay.

Cleaning up pet waste is another way individuals can reduce nitrogen impact.

.... it is a multi billion dollar business (lawn care and etc) .... but
you have to be smart about it. N is not available to plants below
50 degrees F .... sweep the extra back into the beds or lawns ...
we need to restore native areas (wetlands, meadows, woods, and
grasslands) and protect the ones we have to help in bio filtration
.... getting rid of 70% of our lawns (waste of money, water, fuel,
and chemicals) .... slow down the flash flood effect after storms ...
restore the natural meanders of creeks, streams, and rivers ....
rain gardens ...... plant native species.

Also some fine work has been down about the vital importance
of oysters in filtering the bay's water too.