Calendar


USEFUL LINKS

Maryland Blue Crab Summary

Recreational Crabbing Reminders

A new crab trap is showing up at Maryland sport fishing retail stores under the name of CRAB ALERT. This trap is designed so that when a crab grabs the bait, a spring-loaded trap door closes automatically. Please be aware that a crab trap that automatically closes, without a manual force, is illegal to use in Maryland. Using illegal methods to catch crabs has a maximum penalty of $1000 for the first offense.

According to Maryland regulation, a collapsible crab trap is defined as a manually operated, portable device having a flat bottom not more than 20 inches by 15 inches, and not more than four articulated sides. The trap shall be designed so that failure to apply manually exerted tension on the closing mechanism allows the crabs to escape. In other words, a crab trap must allow crabs to enter and exit the trap until the user pulls the line up to retrieve the trap. This pulling of the line manually closes the sides on the trap.


Bycatch Reduction Device (BRD) Information and Where to Buy - BRD Flyer

Recreational Crabbing Summary for the Chesapeake Bay & Tributaries

FEMALE HARVEST IS PROHIBITED

SEASON: April 1 - December 15
  • The current license structure and fees are:
    • $5 for a resident
    • $10 for a non-resident
    • $15 Resident Recreational Crabbing Boat
    • $2 with an Adjoining Sportfishing License
  • The $50 Chesapeake Bay Sport Fishing Decal is NOT valid as a Recreational Crabbing Boat License (though the purchaser of this decal is given one complimentary individual recreational crabbing license).
  • Female Harvest is prohibited except soft crabs.
  • Recreational crabbers may set recreational crabbing gear and crab from boats:
    • during Apr, Oct, Nov and Dec
      • between 1/2 hour after sunrise to 5:00 PM main Bay
      • between 1/2 hour after sunrise to sunset in tributaries
    • during May, Jun, Jul, Aug and Sept
      • between 1/2 hour before sunrise to 5:00PM in the main Bay
      • between 1/2 hour before sunrise to sunset in the tributaries of the Bay
  • Recreational crabbers may not set recreational crabbing gear or crab from boats on Wednesdays except pots from private piers, dipnets or handlines.
  • Recreational crabbers may not set a trotline, traps/rings within 100 feet of another individual's trotline.
  • Minimum Size (Female Harvest Prohibited):
    APRIL 1 - JULY 14
    JULY 15 - DECEMBER 15
    5 " Male Hard
    5 1/4" Male Hard
    3 1/4" Male Peeler
    3 1/2" Male Peeler
  • The minimum size for soft crab is 3 1/2 inches during the entire season.
  • INDIVIDUAL CRABBING
    • A license is required of an individual who uses the following gear or takes the following quantity of crabs:
      • Trotline (1200 feet of baited line maximum allowed) floats must be the same size, color and shape
      • 11 to 30 traps or rings or combination of traps and rings
      • Up to 10 eel pots for own bait
      • More than 2 dozen with a limit of 1 bushel of hard crabs
      • More than 1 dozen with a limit of 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers
    • A license is NOT required of an individual who uses only the following gear and takes the following quantity of crabs:
      • 10 or fewer traps and rings or combination of traps and rings
      • dipnets
      • handlines
      • Seine less than 50 ft in length
      • No more than 2 dozen hard crabs
      • No more than 1 dozen soft crabs or peelers
    • OWNER OF PRIVATE SHORELINE PROPERTY
      • Creel limits vary depending on whether the crabber is licensed or not - see Individual Crabbing information above.
      • 2 crab pots from a private property or pier or within 100 yards of shore and attached by line, marked with owner's name and address
      • Two cull rings required in exterior side panels or the top panel of the crab pot
        • One measuring at least 2 3/16"
        • One measuring at least 2 5/16"
      • Turtle Reduction Device no larger than 1 3/4" x 4 3/4"
    • CRABBING FROM A BOAT
      • The owner of the licensed recreational crabbing boat is also issued a complementary statewide Individual Recreational Crabbing License
    • CRABBING GEAR
    • If the boat is licensed for recreational crabbing with the Recreational Crabbing Boat License or at least one person in the boat possesses an individual recreational crabbing license:
      • Trotline (1200 feet of baited line maximum allowed) floats must be the same size, color and shape
      • Maximum 30 crab traps or rings
      • Handlines
      • Dipnets
    • CATCH LIMITS FOR A LICENSED BOAT:
      • Without any persons in the licensed boat who also possess an Individual Recreational Crabbing License;
        • 1 bushel of hard crabs
        • 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
      • Owner of the licensed boat in the boat with unlicensed crabbers;
        • 1 bushel of hard crabs
        • 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
      • Two or more individuals are on the licensed boat and one individual is licensed (not the boat owner);
        • 2 bushels of hard crabs
        • 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
      • If 2 or more licensed persons are in the licensed boat;
        • 2 bushels of hard crabs
        • 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
    • CATCH LIMITS FOR AN UNLICENSED BOAT:
      • Without any licensed persons in the unlicensed boat;
        • 4 dozen hard crabs
        • 1 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
      • One licensed crabber in the unlicensed boat alone or with unlicensed crabbers;
        • 1 bushel of hard crabs
        • 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
      • If 2 or more licensed persons in the unlicensed boat;
        • 2 bushels of hard crabs
        • 2 dozen soft crabs or peelers or combination of soft crab/peelers
      • Special Note: A person less than 16 years of age is exempted from needing a license but, unless they purchase a crabbing license, they are restricted to the same limits as an unlicensed crabber.

    • * Fisheries Service Regulatory Clarification Notice on Crab Bushel Limits

    A person who buys a Recreational Crab Boat License receives a boat decal and a complimentary, portable recreational crabbing license that they may carry with them. The person may take their license with them and crab from shore or on another boat or, they may simply crab off the boat which has their license decal affixed to it. In each of these instances, the license can be used to catch one bushel. The person may NOT allow other individuals to use their boat with the affixed decal to catch a bushel at the same time that they are using their complimentary, portable license to catch a bushel at a different location. The boat decal and the portable license count as a single license for one person. With this single license, a person is allowed one bushel.

    The second misinterpretation is that the complimentary, portable license of the boat owner counts as one licensed crabber and other unlicensed crabbers on board are covered by the boat license decal and therefore, the boat is allowed two bushels. This is not correct. Persons aboard a boat with a decal cannot catch two bushels from this boat, UNLESS other individuals on board, in addition to the boat owner, have a recreational crabbing license issued to them.

    Even if there are more than two recreationally licensed crabbers on board any boat, there cannot be more than two bushels on board at any one time.

    Summary:

  • 1 Boat Decal (including the complimentary portable license that comes with the decal) = 1 Crabbing License
  • 1 Boat Decal = 1 Bushel of Crabs
  • 1 Boat Decal + 1 Additional Recreational License = 2 Bushels of Crabs
  • 1 Boat Decal + any additional number of recreational licenses still = 2 bushels

Recreational Crabbing Summary for the Coastal Bays of Maryland's Atlantic Ocean and their Tributaries

SEASON: April 1 to December 31 * No license required.

Daily Time Restriction: None

Minimum Size (measured from tip to tip of spikes):
  • Male Hard Crab - 5 inches
  • Soft Crab - 3 1/2" inches
  • Peeler Crab -3 1/4" APRIL 1 - JULY 14; 3 1/2" JULY 15 - DECEMBER 15

Mature female crab no minimum size. Sponge crabs are prohibited.

Daily Catch Limit

  • One (1) bushel hard crabs per person, but not more than two (2) bushels if two (2) or more persons are on a boat.


    • IT SHALL BE LAWFUL:

    • To crab in the Coastal Bays of Maryland's Atlantic Ocean and their tributaries using:
      • not more than 600 feet of baited trotline, with a float of the same color, size, and shape attached to each end; or not more than two (2) 600 foot trotlines if two (2) or more persons are in the boat; or dip nets and any number of handlines; and not more than ten (10) or a combination of ten (10) collapsible crab traps or crab net rings per person from docks, piers, bridges, boats, or shorelines; or
      • not more than twenty-five (25) or a combination of twenty-five (25) collapsible crab traps or crab net rings, if two or more persons are in the boat.
    • For waterfront property owners to set a maximum of two (2) crab pots at their property:
      • attached by rope or line to the property or a privately owned pier or dock; or attached to a pole in front of their property, not more than one hundred (100) yards from the shore and marked with a sign not less than six (6) inches in height indicating the owner's name and address; and are required by law to have one (1) 2 5/16-inches cull ring on a side panel of the upper compartment and one (1) 2 5/16-inches cull ring on the lower compartment; and
      • are required by law to have a “turtle reduction device” attached to each entrance or funnel in the lower chamber constructed of wire or plastic, rectangle in shape with dimension not larger than 1 3/4-inches by 4 3/4-inches.
    Maryland Blue Crab Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) Quicklinks
    Fishing In Maryland
  • Regulations Homepage
  • Maryland Register (To View Complete Proposals)
  • What is the Difference Between Law and Regulation
  • Maryland General Assembly
  • Proposed Regulations
  • Scoping - Possible Regulations
  • Legislative Update
  • Penalty Page
  • Fishery Management Committees
  • COMAR
  • Summary of Tidal Fishing Rules
    • Ramps & Maps

    Not sure where Tidal and Non-Tidal regulations apply? Want to locate a Striped Bass Spawning area Map? Check here for a description of all the ramps and maps.

    History Of Laws
  • Striped Bass
  • Crabs
  • Oysters
    • Other Jurisdictions
  • Potomac River
  • Virginia Marine