One of the smallest estimated Chesapeake Bay crab populations in recent years is starting to take its toll for Delaware's crab lovers.
According to the 2021 Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey, Maryland officials believe there are about 282 million crabs in the Chesapeake Bay.
That's well below the 2020 estimate of 405 million, and 2019's 594 million, and is the lowest since 2007, when the estimate was 251 million, the lowest mark since the survey began in 1990.
While the crab count is down this year, the demand for whole crabs and crab dishes continues throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
Captain Robert Newberry of the Delmarva Fisheries Association told WRDE-TV that has led the wholesale price of a bushel (roughly 6 dozen) crabs to skyrocket.
"When I stopped crabbing, a good day and a good market price was $35 a bushel. Now they're getting $200 or better off the boat."
John Renzi of the Chesapeake Crab Company said the reduced crab count, and also some difficult crabbing weather with the wind, has made it impossible to simply rely on Maryland crabs.
"We have guys in Louisiana working for us, we have guys in Georgia and North Carolina. God forbid there was a big storm on the east coast and we're not able to pull from Maryland, we have sources to pull from in Louisiana. You always have to have multiple sources."
When those crab pots run dry, that means the crustaceans are not getting to restaurants.
Mrs. Robino's Restaurant in Wilmington is temporarily discontinuing their Thursday Crab Nights, where they've offered not only crab cakes, but also spaghetti & crab along with crab bisque.
"For the last two weeks we haven't been able to procure any crab meat to do any of those dishes," Andrea Wakefield said. "We have a basic crab sauce that we put on our menu that's available every day, and we've been having a hard time crab meat for that."
Woody's Crab House in Dewey has altered their crab cake platter where instead of two 6-oz crab cakes, they offer one, in an attempt to avoid selling out.
Depending on the place you shop, those wholesale prices are translating to retail prices near $400 for a bushel of No. 1 crabs going into this weekend's Father's Day, along with the upcoming 4th of July. That number can vary, definition of No. 1 size can differ greatly from outlet to outlet.
Renzi said if your appetite for crab can wait about a month, you might be rewarded in the pocket book.
"If you can stay away from the holidays and wait a week, you're going to see much better prices I think. It's simply all about supply and demand, and right now for the holiday everybody is looking for crabs, and there just isn't the supply there to supply it."
The Maryland study did have some good news. The amount of spawning age female crabs increased slightly to 158 million, although the Maryland, Virginia, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission's target is 196 million crabs.
The Link LonkJune 17, 2021 at 12:00PM
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Chesapeake Bay crab shortage taking its toll inside Delaware's restaurants - WDEL 1150AM
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