Favorable conditions that bring large numbers of the megalops phase back to the Bay result in higher crab populations for the next year or two. Other natural factors that affect populations include predation, cannibalism, and the availability of food and crab habitat. This succulent seafood is the pride and pleasure of the Bay. Blue crabs have, so far, endured increasing harvest pressures that would decimate other commercial fisheries. Commercially, the harvest of blue crabs is the most important fishery of the Chesapeake Bay.
Total catch outranks all other shellfish species in both weight and value.
It is estimated that approximately 75 percent of the adult stock of blue crabs is removed from the Bay each year. Blue crabs are harvested using dredges, crab pots, trotlines, handlines and dip nets. There is concern that the present population will not be able to sustain itself because of increasing harvest pressures. With the decline of other commercially important species, such as striped bass and oyster, the seafood industry in Chesapeake Bay is becoming more dependent on the blue crab. As the human population in the Bay watershed increases, so will the demand for crabs.