![]() The winch’s steel chain unspools noisily, shivering water, until it jerks to a halt at Morris’s command. After aligning Mydra Ann on the proper coordinates, he steps outside into a frigid February morning to deploy the boat’s big dredge. It’s a routine he’s honed, in one form or another, over four decades on the Bay. The results "continue a worrying trend," Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Regional Ecosystem Scientist Chris Moore said in a statement.From the warmth of his workboat’s cabin, Roger Morris checks his GPS and begins the drill he’ll perform nearly 900 times this winter. The department said it will work with Virginia and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission on management measures for the 2022 crabbing season that address conservation needs. The abundance of adult crabs has steadily declined despite meeting management objectives, officials said. ![]() While the survey's juvenile crab estimate rose to 101 million from 86 million last year, officials noted that the number is below average for the third year. The survey's highest estimate for crabs in the bay was 852 million in 1993. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources' annual winter dredge survey, a cooperative effort with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, estimated that 227 million crabs are living in the nation's largest estuary, down from 282 million in 2021. (AP/WJZ) - The number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay is estimated to be at the lowest level observed since an annual survey tracking the population began in 1990, officials announced Thursday.
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