Latest news with #ChesapeakeProgress
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Extremely distressing' Chesapeake Bay blue crab populations call for curtailing harvest, experts say
Blue crab populations in the Chesapeake Bay took a sizable hit in 2025, marking a need for more cautious harvest regulations, some environmentalists say. Each winter, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary cooperate on a dredge survey to record the population of blue crabs. During the survey, biologists use dredge equipment to capture, measure, record and release blue crabs at 1,500 sites throughout the Chesapeake Bay from December through March. VIMS covers the entire Virginia portion of Chesapeake Bay, sampling more than 750 stations. This year, the survey found there are about 238 million blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, a decrease from last year's 317 million crabs. The decline was seen in pretty much all demographics, including adult male crabs at 26 million, adult female crabs at 108 million, and juvenile crabs at 103 million. According to Chesapeake Progress, a tool created to track and report the bay's restoration, a sustainable population must have at least 72 million females, and the ultimate goal is 196 million females. The Chesapeake Bay's health declines as extreme weather increases Blue crab population rebounds but remains below targets Blue catfish are invasive to the Chesapeake Bay. By eating them, Virginians can help save the bay. Crab populations can fluctuate since their success can depend on multiple factors. These include weather, the population of their predators, and the availability of their habitat, and often, populations can experience a 'boom-or-bust' cycle. Mandy Bromilow, blue crab program manager for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said freezing temperatures earlier in the year likely had an impact on survivorship. She said this means crabs had a 'very high mortality rate,' and the results mark the second lowest population since the surveys began in 1990. The lowest population was reported in 2022. Chris Moore, the Virginia executive director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said this year's blue crabs survey is 'extremely distressing.' According to the foundation, the loss of critical crab habitat like underwater grasses and the rise of invasive predators like blue catfish can threaten blue crabs. Other factors like climate change and polluted runoff can also be detrimental for young and spawning crabs. 'Blue crabs are a staple on our plates, in our water and in our culture,' Moore said. 'We must protect them in order to ensure their important role in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem and preserve sustainable harvests for the most valuable commercial fishery in the bay. Given the continued decline of males in the population, Virginia should look for ways to reduce harvest of male crabs — which has been a growing part of our crab harvest.' According to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, located in Hampton, Virginia's adaptive approach to fisheries management 'continues to effectively address the highly dynamic nature of the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population.' Last year, Virginia reduced its crab harvest from the bay by 18%, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission reduced harvest by 14%. Maryland increased its 2024 harvest by 1%, and the combined result was a harvest reduction of about 7% across the bay. 'While this year's survey shows a decline in overall abundance, Virginia watermen have experienced good catch rates so far this season,' Jamie Green, a marine resources commissioner, said in a statement. 'These kinds of fluctuations are not unusual in a dynamic system like the Chesapeake Bay, and they reinforce why our adaptive management approach is so critical.' Next year, Virginia and Maryland researchers will complete a comprehensive stock assessment for blue crabs — the first time since 2011. While the dredge survey provides a snapshot in time, the comprehensive stock assessment provides a more well-rounded view of what factors are affecting blue crabs using years of data. Once the assessment is complete, marine life managers then use that data to regulate harvest rates. The assessment will be completed by March 2026. 'With the results of the stock assessment next year, we hope to have more insight on what could be contributing to the ongoing low juvenile recruitment and what we can do to support the Chesapeake Bay's blue crabs,' Bromilow said. 'Until then, we need to maintain caution in our management approach for blue crabs.' Eliza Noe,
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Chesapeake Bay health downgraded to a ‘C' in this year's report card
Heath Kelsey of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science speaks at the releas of the 2025 Chesapeake Bay report card, which gave the estuary a "C" grade. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters) Last year's weather didn't treat the Chesapeake Bay too kindly, if you ask Bill Dennison. 'It was too wet, and then it was too dry — and always too hot,' said Dennison, the vice president for science application at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Those conditions are part of the reason the bay got a 'C' on this year's UMCES report card, down from last year's all-time high grade of 'C+.' 'The crops didn't have enough water, so they were not soaking up nutrients,' Dennison said at Tuesday's release of the report card. 'So when it did rain, there were excess nutrients washing into the bay.' A number of factors contribute to the score, including measurements of aquatic grass growth, water clarity, and harmful nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus, which run off from fertilizers and sewage treatment plants, among other sources. Excess nutrents spur the growth of algae, which suck oxygen from the water as they die, creating 'dead zones' that kill off underwater life. Though this year's score dropped, Dennison and others were quick to point out that the overall trajectory of the bay is more positive. Of 15 bay regions identified in the report only one has seen a declining trend dating back to the 1980s: the Upper Eastern Shore, which includes the Chester River. Six regions are improving, including Baltimore's Back and Patapsco rivers, and the rest are holding steady, said Heath Kelsey, director of the Integration and Application Network at UMCES. Kelsey said the bay has faced 'lots of development, lots of population moving in, lots more traffic and impervious surface — and climate change is adding to that, too. But nevertheless, over time, whatever we're doing is making a difference.' Yet bay states have fallen short of their 2014 pledges for nutrient reduction: By 2024, according to computer models, nitrogen reduction hit 59% of the goal and phosphorous reduction achieved 92% in the six states, plus Washington, D.C., in the bay watershed. They did meet other goals by that year, including reduced sediment runoff. Early gains came, in part, from outfitting wastewater treatment plants with enhanced technology so they discharge fewer nutrients. But slowing pollution from what are known as 'non-point' sources, such as stormwater runoff from cities and farm fields alike, has been more difficult. The bay has also responded to the estimated reductions more slowly than expected. From 1985 to 1987, 26.5% of the bay's tidal waters met water quality standards, according to ChesapeakeProgress, an online resource from the Chesapeake Bay Program. In the most recent assessment, between 2020 and 2022, 29.8% of the bay met those same standards. The numbers have declined steadily since a high point of 42.2% from 2015 to 2017. A 2023 report from the Bay Program's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee laid out some reasons for the slow improvement. Computer modeling could be overestimating nutrient reductions, the report said. It also called for increased adoption of non-point pollution reduction measures, and urged governments to consider programs that reward farmers and other landowners based on the success of conservation practices, rather than awarding funds to implement a practice, regardless of the pollution-reduction outcome. Officials have been drafting a revised bay agreement, with new goals for the states, that could be released for public comment next month, pending a vote from a Chesapeake Bay Program committee. Meanwhile, cuts — some proposed and others realized — to federal agencies by the Trump administration are adding fresh uncertainty to bay restoration efforts. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), who appeared via video for Tuesday's event, said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin publicly assured him that cuts would not be proposed for the Chesapeake Bay Program, the EPA-led office that leads the bay cleanup effort. It's a change from Trump's first administration, when the president repeatedly proposed cutting the Bay Program's funding, or zeroing it out altogether, though he was denied by Congress. 'That's good news, but we know that that's not the only program important to the health of the bay, which is why we'll push back against the administration's efforts to cut other key environmental programs,' Van Hollen said. President Donald Trump's proposed budget would slash billions from the EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Agriculture, potentially hampering funding for improvements at sewage treatment plants, scientists that study bay wildlife and programs that assist farmers with conservation practices, according to a May news release from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 'It's chaos on the hour,' Bay Foundation President and CEO Hilary Harp Falk said Tuesday. 'We have seen some slightly positive news in the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program getting full funding in the president's proposed budget, but what we're also seeing is major cuts to NOAA and major cuts to USGS, including bedrock scientific programs. 'You can't just pull half of those federal agencies out and expect to have results,' she said. To Dennison, some of the biggest changes so far have been departures of senior USGS scientists, who focused on monitoring conditions in the bay watershed. Some of them opted for the early retirement plan offered by the administration in order to thin the federal bureaucracy, Dennison said. At UMCES, officials are also concerned about Trump administration attempts to limit the amount of grant funding that universities can use for overhead, Dennison said. 'We're doing a lot of the doomsday list-making,' he said, but added that the institution is also trying to keep a level head. 'I think it's important not to freak out,' Dennison said. 'Let's keep our head down, doing good work. And then, when we're really confronted with the challenge, we'll deal with it. But for right now, what we hear is being proposed doesn't often end up being the reality.' Despite tough state budget conditions, Maryland officials are trying to plug holes left by the federal government, said Maryland Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. In remarks on Tuesday, Kurtz cited the recently passed Chesapeake Legacy Act, which will, in part, let DNR incorporate water quality data collected by community groups such as riverkeepers — potentially filling in gaps caused by federal cuts. That bill may have been aided by its small price tag: It allocates about $500,000 for a new certification program for conservation-minded farmers. Kurtz also cited a 2024 law, the Whole Watershed Act, which funds targeted water quality assistance for five communities. 'Where there are things that we're going to lose, I think we are well-positioned as a state because of the strength of the partnership, to be able to keep that scientific understanding going,' Kurtz said. Dennison said scientists at UMCES have been zeroing in on the Upper Shore, the only region with a declining water quality trend in the center's report card. He said the problem is a bit of an 'enigma' in an area where a solid number of farmers are using cover crops to prevent erosion between growing seasons, and a significant amount of nutrient-laden poultry litter from area chicken houses is trucked to the Western Shore instead of being spread as fertilizer to Eastern Shore farm fields. Scientists have a few hypotheses, including that the Upper Shore's flat elevatio could cause the slow groundwater circulation in the area, which could be delaying observations of progress. 'We've put into practice some of these things that we're seeing positive responses to elsewhere, but they're slower on the Eastern Shore because it's such a flat [area with] poorly drained soils. It's just taken a while for that to happen,' Dennison said. He said the center will host a series of workshops on the Shore later this month, in collaboration with the Delmarva Land and Litter Collaborative, focused on environmental practices in chicken houses, bringing in farmers and poultry companies. 'We don't really understand why it's uniquely degraded, whereas everywhere else in the bay is holding steady or improving, so we're trying to get at that, but we're doing it in partnership with the farming community,' Dennison said.
