While ¼" size difference may not sound like much, it could definitely make the difference between taking home crabs for dinner, or simply taking home just a case of sunburn and a slew of greenhead bites!

By David Showell - Absecon Bay Sportsman Center

Every summer all along hundreds of New Jersey's bulkheads, bridges and boat docks or in boats on our salt and brackish bays, creeks and ditches, you will find thousands of recreational "crabbers" pursuing one of New Jersey's tastiest crustaceans. Before many New Jersey anglers were tossin' plugs and bunker heads, they probably had a line in the water and a crab net in hand enjoying the challenge of landing a blue crab. Back in the day, nearly any crab was "fair game". An often heard quote was "good for the sauce" as the smaller ones found their way into the bucket and later, into the pot! However, changes in New Jersey Marine Regulations have offered some protection to these bottom-dwelling scavengers who are most certainly an important part of our bay and estuary ecosystem.

This photo was taken on a 4th of July Weekend on Absecon's Faunce Landing Road Bulkhead where NJ recreational crabbers enjoy hauling in the tasty crustacean.

It has come to my attention that the New Jersey Crab Committee of the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Council is currently recommending a size increase for both Recreational and Commercial landing of hard crabs. The current recreational size is set at 4 ½" shell length and Commercial size is 4 ¾" shell length. Under a new proposal being considered by the committee, the new recommended size limit would be set at a minimum size of 5" for ALL harvesters. It is my belief that the basic premise for this increase is that it would bring the size in line with the Commercial Regulations of Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. However, it is a little known secret that many of the "Maryland" Crabs eaten in the crab- loving South, are actually caught right here in the South Jersey Bays and Delaware Bay. This is especially true early in the season when New Jersey's shallow bays and sounds are the first bodies of water to warm up. The Commercial Crab Dealers and Shippers have to make sure that they are packing only 5" and larger Crabs to take advantage of these out of state markets and it would just be easier for them to convince their crabbers to pack bigger crabs if there were legal consequences on the crabbers when smaller crabs are in their baskets. As of today, there is no vote scheduled to be taken on this proposed size increase, but it has entered the regulatory pipeline and NOW is the time to let your comments be known.

A nice haul of beautiful Barnegat Bay Blue Claws are shown cleaned and heading home. When steamed, these will make for a fine treat with a little Bay seasoning and butter!

The following are simply my own OPINIONS that I have formed from observations of a lifetime of working on South Jersey's Bays... AND thirty years working directly with Commercial Crabbers. I have been buying shedder crabs for bait and to shed out for Soft Shells for quite some time.

Recreational Crabbing is VERY important to the Bait and Tackle Business in South Jersey and is growing in importance as we are faced with more and more restrictions on traditional fisheries, making it harder and harder to take home a "fin fish" dinner. A large amount of the bunker sold from Bait & Tackle shops are sold for hand-lining or baiting individual crab baskets. Another fair amount is sold for baiting larger commercial type traps for those licensed to use them when crabbing.

However, most recreational crabbers are restricted to land-based structures when putting those lines and traps in the water... and usually these are not the best spots to catch the largest crabs. In my experience, I have observed a problem with crabbers keeping undersized crabs in these areas. That is why I have reservations about how effective it would be to raise the legal size. It may serve to only exacerbate the problem or cause those who really try to be legal to just give up completely. 

Recreational crabbers that do use boats to pursue crabs, already have to compete with commercial crabbers who set hundreds of crab pots that are catching crabs 24 hours a day...7 days a week. While ¼" size difference may not sound like much, it could definitely make the difference between taking home crabs for dinner, or simply taking home just a case of sunburn and a slew of greenhead bites! While setting the size for ALL crabbers to  5" may sound fair, there's a good chance it could cause a SERIOUS decline in participation. This would have a detrimental impact on bunker sales and New Jersey's Bait & Tackle dealers.

As for New Jersey's Commercial Crabbers, that increase could be devastating to those working the Atlantic Coastal Bays and Sounds. Having observed the commercial catches of shedders and seeing how big they shed out for many years, I personally do not feel that these back bay crabs will ever grow as big as their southern cousins. Many of our coastal crabbers have promoted their own local markets and are currently able to provide crabs at reasonable prices. Part of that "reasonable pricing" comes from being able to sell more crabs. One very serious crabber I work with calculates that this change could reduce his income by as much as a third! Another consideration would be that with less crabs on the market, prices will go up for everyone. This could additionally make us more dependent on crabs from other states. 

Enough for now. Please remember that so far this size increase is just a committee recommendation. However...if no one comments...we know from experience that it won't be long before it DOES come up for a vote! You will probably be reading this after the NJMFC meeting on March 6, so we will try to give you an update as this issue develops. Check back with us for more information as we get closer to the season!