GSMFC Blue Crab Management Profile
Over 400 pages!
http://www.gsmfc.org/publications/GS...%20243_web.pdf
Quote:
The blue crab supports one of the largest commercial and recreational fisheries in theGulf of Mexico. Hard crabs are currently harvested almost exclusively by traps. Since 2000,annual Gulf hard crab commercial landings have averaged ~ 34% of total U.S. harvest, despitea reduction in effort for several of those years. In 2006, following hurricanes Katrina, Rita, andWilma of 2005, the Gulf’s contribution reached an all-time high of 41.3% of the total U.S. hardcrab landings. Louisiana has dominated blue crab landings for hard and soft crabs in the Gulfover the last decade, with harvest increasing from 75.5% of the total Gulf landings in 2000 to86.6% by 2009. Landings in Florida averaged ~10%, Alabama 4%, Mississippi 1%, and Texas7% of the Gulf region total harvest over the same time period. T
he recreational fishery is thoughtto contribute significantly to total fishing pressure, with estimates of recreational harvest equal to4%-20% of reported commercial catch in different areas of the Gulf.Fishing effort, as measured by the number of fishermen, has increased dramatically; from1,516 in 1980 to 4,028 in 1991, an increase of 166%. Over the last decade, Gulf-wide licensesales for resident commercial crab trap fishermen have remained steady, averaging 4,282 per year.
Collection of Gulf-wide effort data is currently undergoing a transition from the NMFS port agentcollections to individual state effort estimates via trip tickets. Several states have initiated effortreduction programs to reduce overcapitalization which was identified as a substantial problem inthe last FMP (Guillory et al. 2001). Texas passed the Texas’ Crab License Management Programin 1997 and Florida enacted the Blue Crab Effort Management Plan (BCEMP) in 2007.
