Completed Actions

2019

  • Evaluate options for funding the next benchmark blue crab stock assessment. Review the stock condition and consider new data sources and new or improved models for assessment.
  • Work with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science to complete a study of the ecosystem factors affecting blue crabs. Evaluate the results of this research and determine how it can be applied to the existing blue crab management framework.
  • Respond to issues affecting the blue crab fishery, including recent research into the ecological and economical effects of derelict fishing gear in the Chesapeake Bay, uncertainties around estimates of blue crab exploitation and options for the development of triggers to inform decisions in blue crab management.