September 24, 2025 — In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University compared numbers of juvenile blue crabs across three nursery habitats in Pamlico Sound, both pre- and post-fishery decline, and found that while adult populations declined and have remained low, juvenile populations remained the same during both periods. The work points to a potential population bottleneck for crabs post-nursery but pre-maturity.
The Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES) supports the majority of North Carolina’s blue crab population and provides key nursery habitat. Larval blue crabs are released by mature female crabs from narrow inlets along the Outer Banks during the late spring, progressing through several planktonic molts in the Atlantic Ocean before returning to the estuary in the fall through a combination of wind- and storm-driven transport. The newly arrived juvenile crabs settle in near-shore habitats, like seagrass beds and shallow marsh peat habitats, along the eastern and western shores.
“These juveniles hang out in the nurseries until they’re basically big enough to pick a fight and win, then they move into the rest of the estuary,” says Erin Voigt, a Ph.D. candidate at NC State and first author of the study.