Marine - Species - Blue Crab

Fishery Status

Commercial blue crab pot fishery landings since 2011 have steadily been above the long term 10 year average, with 2013 recording slightly lower landings than 2012.  Previous landings were impacted by decade-long drought conditions and relatively low abundance. Periodic surveys of recreational crabbing indicate that rainfall, or the lack thereof, is important during the warmer months. Data presented in this graph were provided by DNR Fisheries Statistics Section.

Additional Graph Information

Commercial and recreational catches are measured in number of individuals or pounds of fish caught. Changes in catch among years may be the result of changes in abundance, changes in fishing effort, or both.

On each graph, the horizontal dotted lines above or below the "10 year average" represent one "standard deviation" unit, which is a measure of how variable the annual data are around the 10-year average. In general, the area between one standard deviation above the mean and one standard deviation below the average includes approximately 68% of the values. Approximately 95% percent of observations in the data set are found within two standard deviations of the average.