Uh oh! Today's Baltimore Sun reports that the crab population is under threat, and that harvesters will be limited in how much they can harvest and sell. This apparently is linked to the winter dredge survey, which reported in mid-May that the crab population is at its lowest level in the past 30 years.
The DNR is at pains to avoid pointing fingers, but the obvious causes include nearby agriculture, including fertilizer runoff from horticulture (mostly corn & soy) and fertilizer runoff from chicken farming. Importantly, much of the runoff is from upstream states- Maryland deals with waste from the other five states in the watershed....
