Earlier this summer, Virginia fishery managers voted to repeal a 16-year ban on winter dredging for blue crabs, opening the door to possibly allow watermen to dredge the Bay bottom, scooping semi-dormant crabs from their winter slumber. But a state advisory committee now recommends Virginia take a step back from that possibility.
Virginia’s Crab Management Advisory Committee voted 8-5 on Tuesday, Aug. 20, to recommend that Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) close the state’s winter crab dredge season until a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) species stock assessment can be completed in the spring of 2026.
The committee’s new advice could put the brakes on those earlier moves to reopen the dredge fishery that’s been closed since 2008.
VMRC voted 5-4 on June 25 to repeal a 16-year ban on winter dredging for blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay and to reopen a limited-entry Virginia fishery. The decision was sparked by a 10-2 vote earlier in June by advisory committee members to reopen the fishery, with a 1.5 million-pound harvest cap.
Winter dredging for blue crabs was banned in 2008, and ever since, commercial fishing lobbyists have been working to bring the dredge fishery back. The change of heart by committee members was sparked, in part, by a strong crab pot lobby on the committee concerned about losing a portion of its quota to the winter dredge fishery.
They suggested that extending the crab pot season would be more beneficial to watermen than providing a few winter jobs for 20 dredge boats. Since the dredge fishery went away in 2008 other states have taken over that market share which will make it difficult for a Virginia dredge fishery to survive, they suggested.
The winter dredge fishery, which caught about 80% female crabs, supplied crabs in the winter months for the bay’s crab picking houses. However, since the 2008 ban, southern states with warmer climates and longer crab seasons have cut into the Virginia winter crab meat market share, says a committee member.
Proponents of the crab pot fishery were also able to gather enough votes to recommend that VMRC extend the 2024 crab pot season to December 31 rather than November 30; the 2025 season should run from March 1 to December 31; and close the crab dredge season and not consider reopening it until the 2026 crab stock assessment is complete. The current 2024 crab pot season in Virginia runs from March 17 to November 30. The committee also recommended that VMRC staff continue to study the dredging matter.
Virginia Watermen’s Association President J. C. Hudgins spoke in favor of the dredge fishery. Hudgins says that if there were 20 or so boats working in the fishery with three men to a boat it would provide winter jobs for 50 to 60 men. “There is still a winter market for crab meat in local picking houses,” he says. ”At the last meeting, we also talked about wanting a year-round crab fishery in Virginia with potting, dredging and other gear types.”
Opponents on the committee countered by saying that the price of gearing up to go crab dredging is cost prohibitive for most watermen. It was also noted there are only 15 dredge boats working in the Delaware Bay crab dredge fishery which is still allowed, suggesting that the fishery there is in decline.
VMRC commissioners may be grateful for the committee’s recommendation to change their decision, as the matter has stirred up a hornet’s nest around the bay. Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials, Maryland watermen and conservation groups in Virginia and Maryland have strongly disagreed with the idea of reopening a winter dredge harvest.
VMRC plans to meet in September to further discuss the matter.
