NEWS: What Happened To The Chesapeake Blue Crab
| Maryland’s iconic blue crab is on the list of the Top 25 Things Vanishing From America according to WalletPop.com. In 2007, the Chesapeake Bay saw the lowest harvest since 1945, just 22 million pounds; 40 years ago the harvest was 96 million pounds. There are only about 120 million crabs in the Bay, and officials estimate that 200 million are needed for a sustainable population. Overfishing, pollution, invasive species and global warming are the culprits. The federal government granted the state $20 million to combat the problem, although, as the post notes, legislators were more worried about helping save jobs for the crabbers than the disappearing species. But in this economy, who’s shelling out $200 for a bucket of blues? Read the full story. | 
Only the males have blue claws; but both males and females end up the same color—orange—when cooked. Photo by Michael Thompson | IST. |
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| – Learn more about the different grades of crabmeat. – See the different types of crab in our Crab Glossary. |
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