. Commercial fisheries review. Fisheries; Fish trade. The prediction of 100 million pounds was made in 1969 from estimates of young crabs. Crabs hatched in summer 1968 first appeared on Virginia and Maryland nursery grounds in October 1968. During 1969 they were found in greater numbers than ever before. VIMS scientists believe that unusual weath- er during last summer and winter reduced blue crab stocks. Unfavorable Weather Crabs have been scarce in the rivers during routine winter and spring surveys. This con- firmed fears that freshwater runoff in early August and after Hurricane Camille in
. Commercial fisheries review. Fisheries; Fish trade. The prediction of 100 million pounds was made in 1969 from estimates of young crabs. Crabs hatched in summer 1968 first appeared on Virginia and Maryland nursery grounds in October 1968. During 1969 they were found in greater numbers than ever before. VIMS scientists believe that unusual weath- er during last summer and winter reduced blue crab stocks. Unfavorable Weather Crabs have been scarce in the rivers during routine winter and spring surveys. This con- firmed fears that freshwater runoff in early August and after Hurricane Camille in late August 1969j and the cold winter, brought about salinity and temperature conditions that many crabs could not tolerate. Crabs in the James and York rivers were hit hardest by Camillej so crab pot fishermen are likely to find fewer this summer in these rivers than in other years, including 1968 and o o. Typical Chesapeake Bay crab pot. 1969. Adult female crabs (sooks) will be very scarce. Most available crabs will be large and fat jimmies (males). Less damage to crab stocks should have occurred in other Virginia rivers and farther up the bay, says Van Engel. Problems Ahead The market for crab meat appears good. Crab fishermen are anxious to work, but pro- duction of fresh crab meat has been slowed by scarcity of pickers in some houses. The longer outlook contains more prob- lems. Crab supplies in Virginia from Sep- tember 1970 through August 19 71 are expected to be lower than the previous 10-year average. Van Engel concludes that the 1969 hatch of crabs appears from present surveys to have been light. It is expected to produce a small crab catch: similar to the below- average landings of 1968 and the first two- thirds of 1969. • o o 26. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original United States. N
Size: 1805px × 1384px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., book, bookcentury1900, booksubjectfisheries, booksubjectfishtrade
