CAMBIRDGE, Md. - A new pilot program introduced by the Department of Natural Resources has watermen frustrated.
It's with the possible implementation of plastic, rectangular containers called lugs. Currently, caught male blue crabs are able to be placed in lugs, but females are not. So watermen feel the program comes with a lot of hoops to jump through and they ask why the need for the program at all.
Lugs are bigger than your typical bushel basket of crabs. Bushels hold about 40 pounds and lugs hold 60.
DNR has introduced the idea of using lugs for female crabs. But with that comes rules that participating watermen (in the pilot program) must follow.
Participating watermen must comply with monthly weigh-ins of five full lugs and report the locations of where the crabs were caught. Also, monthly random samplings where five of their lugs would be weighed, measured, and counted. And, participating waterman would not be able to mix containers. Meaning they couldn't place their female caught crabs in both lugs and bushels. Failure towards any of these rules would lead to disqualification from the pilot program study.
Jack Brooks, Co-Owner of J.M. Clayton Seafood Company, asks what the reason is for a program only for the females. He says, "They've accepted the male crab bushel limits in these plastic lugs but they don't want to do it in females yet. They resist. They say we need to study, study, study but they didn't study for the males crabs. I don't know what the difference is."
Brooks goes on to says that it's extremely frustrating because bushel baskets are becoming harder to come by and they're one of they only containers they can use currently for the females. "Its an availability thing. It's a necessity. The crabbers need an alternative container to use in the summer time," says Brooks.
And why especially in the summertime? Without the use of the bushel baskets, watermen would only be able to use plastic barrel containers. [pictured above]
President of G.W. Hall Seafood Bryan Hall says, "When its a hundred degrees everything in the drum is gonna be dead. The best alternative we found is the lugs. I mean they cool just as good as they do in baskets. You buy them one time and they last 3- 4 years. You buy a basket, for eight dollars, they last maybe two trips." Hall also added he can't reconcile with the need for a program and study for female crabs when male crab lug regulations were in place without one.
During DNR's public meeting on Thursday Genine McClair explained, "The bushel is referenced in more than half of our regulations so there's sort of a lot of little pieces that were going to have to address when we bring lugs to the table. We're proposing they create this program so people can start using these containers now and it also provides the department information to collect about that container."
For the participating watermen, the program hopes to begin July 1.
And, if all goes well regulations wouldn't be effective until April of 2025.
Brooks explained how watermen find trouble with that, too. He added that if bushel baskets are disappearing they need lugs now to stay in business, not two years down the road.
More possibilities with the Maryland blue crab.