DNR proposes 2009 blue crab season regulations

ANNAPOLIS, MD – (AP) Proposed regulations for Maryland's 2009 blue crab season would set daily limits on female crab harvests and would close the commercial harvest periodically throughout the season in hopes of rebuilding the Chesapeake Bay's crab population.

The proposal announced Monday by the Department of Natural Resources aims to reduce the female blue crab harvest by 34 percent. It is meant to ensure that no more than 46 percent of the blue crab population is harvested annually. The season runs from April to December.

Recreational crabbers would have to register for a license for the first time and the 2008 prohibition on harvesting female hard crabs would continue under the proposal.

Officials would also temporarily freeze limited commercial crabbing licenses that weren't used from 2004 to 2008.

A public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27.