Number of Chesapeake Bay blue crabs increased
this year, but their population still below average
Blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay received both good news and bad news in the results released this month from the annual blue crab winter dredge survey, conducted jointly by Virginia and Maryland.
The survey estimates a total of 349 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay in 2026, slightly lower than the long-term average of 400 million crabs. This is a 46% increase from last year’s estimate of 238 million crabs, which was the second lowest number recorded since the survey began in 1990.
