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| | Assessment of blue crab in Chesapeake Bay                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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 blue crab population in Chesapeake Bay is managed cooperatively by the 
State of Maryland , the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Potomac River 
Fisheries Commission. With support from these three jurisdictions and 
the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, the blue crab population and the 
fisheries its supports has been assessed every 3-7 years since 1992. 
Here we provide the most recent information on the status, trends and 
management refrence points for the blue crab population.
					The most recent assessment of blue crab in Chesapeake Bay was 
completed in 2011.This assessment developed new sex-specific reference 
points for management, recommending exploitation-based and 
abundance-based target and limit reference points. In 2009, the last 
year for which full data are available, the blue crab population was not
 overfished, nor was it experiencing overfishing when compared to these 
reference points. The stock was assessed to be below target abundance in
 2009, but survey data indicated that it was expected to be above target
 abundance in 2010.
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| | Downloads
					Executive Summary
							Full Assessment
							Working paper 1 - Survival analysis
								Working paper 2 - Depensation analysis
								Working paper 3 - SSCMSA Sensitivy Runs
								Working paper 4 - Production modeling
								Working paper 5 - CMSA modelResearch Recommendations
							External Review Comments
							Julian Addison
								Cathy Dichmond
								Billy ErnstResponse to reviewers
							Survey Data
							Catch Data
							Control Rule Calculations
							ADMB code
							R scripts                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
| | Previous Assessments
					The blue crab population has been assessed for management every 3-7 years since 1992.
					2005 Assessment
					Limits and Targets (2001)
					Miller and Houde 1999
					Rugolo et al. 1997                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
| | Cooperating Institutions                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
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| | UMCES Chesapeake Biological Lab                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
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| | Smithsonian Institution Environmetnal Research Center                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
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| | Hosted by the Quantitative Fisheries Ecology Lab at the UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
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