February 7, 2017 — The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s American Lobster Management Board approved Addendum II to the Jonah Crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The addendum establishes a coast-wide standard for claw harvest and a definition of bycatch, based on a percent composition of catch, in order to minimize the expansion of a small-scale fishery under the bycatch allowance.
The lobster board is in charge of Jonah crab management, as the fisheries are linked in many states. Many fishermen fish for both species with the same gear.
Some crab fishermen keep only crab claws and throw back the rest of the crab. Under a provision in the 2015 FMP, only fishermen from New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia who have a history of claw landings prior to June 2, 2015, were allowed to harvest claws. All other fishermen were required to land whole crabs only.
The commission discovered that there also were fishermen in New York and Maine who had a history of claw landings but they were required to land whole crabs under the provisions of the FMP.