June 2, 2025 — The most updated edition of the annual Chesapeake Bay blue crab winter dredge survey has found that the blue crab population in the U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia is the second-smallest recorded in recent history.
The survey, conducted by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, estimated the total crab population to be 238 million, just above 2022’s all-time low of 226 million.