WASHINGTON – There are nearly twice as many juvenile crabs in the Chesapeake Bay as there were a year ago.
In fact, the Bay's blue crab population increased by 60 percent in one year.
Officials said a mild winter and good fishery management led to the boom after two years of low numbers.
The total estimated population of blue crabs stands at 594 million.
The adult female population climbed to 190 million, a 29 percent gain from 2018 and the adult male population increased to 80 million or 38 percent. Mild winter temperatures also helped increase both juvenile and adult blue crab survival rates over the winter.