Chesapeake Bay blue crab prices soar

Shortage fuels jump; crabbers not benefiting

by Larry Chowning –

Chesapeake Bay blue crabs have cost more this summer to consumers — but it does not necessarily mean local crabbers are making more money.

The bay’s overall estimated crab population is at a historic low and this forced Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources this summer to place restrictions on crabbers — cutting down on days they can work and on harvest limits.

Although Virginia’s 2021 blue crab harvest fell 15% from 2020, high prices lead the total dockside value of crabs to increase 14% to $35 million. The lower crab population and higher retail prices of crabs have local watermen concerned about the future.

Urbanna crabber Henry Payne said he is less worried about VMRC’s regulations on his crab business than he is about the overall negative impact inflation is having on his business.

The cost of a bushel of menhaden for bait is $22 a bushel and Payne uses two bushels a day to bait his pots. The price of gas went from $2.50 a gallon to almost $5 a gallon. “I am looking at over $100 a day for daily operation expenses,” he said.

Joey Williams of Williams & Son Seafood Inc. in Remlik agreed. “We have gone from everybody having stimulus money to this inflation thing,” said Williams.

When the retail cost of crabs went to $200 a bushel this summer for un-steamed “jimmies” (male hard crabs), Williams said he saw some resistance to that from locals and longtime customers.

The main thing that concerns Williams is that, “It takes less crabs to flood the market now than it did several years ago. Crabs are a luxury food. When the price of crabs is high, many people just fire up the grill and go to cooking hot dogs and hamburgers.”