Encouraged by their preliminary success at raising blue crabs in the laboratory, a group of Maryland and Virginia scientists plans an experimental release of hatchery-raised crabs in Chesapeake Bay tributaries as early as this summer.
The scientists hope to find out whether rivers and creeks that don't seem to have many crabs can support them. If the test with about 40,000 young crabs works, it could be a first step toward trying to supplement the bay's hard-pressed crab population through captive breeding.
Such an effort, if it happens, is years away, the scientists say. And watermen, fishery managers and bay conservationists are skeptical. They stress that hatchery crabs are not the cure-all for the troubled blue crab fishery, which has seen record- low harvests for the past two years.
"I think it's important that people understand what we expect to get out of the work ... is learning more about crabs," said Eric Schwaab, fisheries director of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "I don't think there's anybody who believes at this point that we could somehow use hatchery crabs in a way that would meaningfully enhance the Chesapeake Bay stock."
The blue crab population can't be restored unless the bay states also protect their habitat, reduce pollution and limit the number of crabs that are caught, said Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen's Association.
"This is not a short-term fix," Simns said. "You can't substitute for nature. ... We don't think you'll ever be able to hatch so many crabs that you won't have to have regulations."
But Yonathan Zohar, who directs the marine research institute, which runs the hatchery, is not so quick to dismiss the idea that hatchery crabs could someday help restore blue crabs.
"We're just starting to explore a new avenue," said Zohar, director of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute's Baltimore lab. "I can't say whether this is going to be commercially successful or not, but I think this is a tool we cannot afford to ignore."
Scientists say the species is being fished to the maximum and may be overfished.
Blue crab harvests have fallen from 55 million pounds in 1993 to a low of 20.2 million pounds in 2000. The 2001 catch improved slightly, to 20.5 million pounds - the second smallest on record.
Maryland and Virginia officials are imposing new restrictions on crabbers in an attempt to enable a higher percentage of crabs to survive and repopulate the bay.
