KINGSTON, RI – Four years ago, the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) launched its On-Deck Data Pilot Project to collect critically needed biological data – first, on American lobster, and then on the emerging Jonah crab fishery. Between 2013 and 2015, a dozen vessels collected and recorded size, sex, and reproductive structure on lobsters …
Category: Jonah crabs
Jonah crabs: Managing an emerging fishery
ALEXANDRIA, VA – As fish begin to move and modify their behavior in response to changes in the ocean, fishermen are moving and adapting, too. Last year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ACMFC) initiated the Jonah crab Fishery Management Plan (FMP) which takes effect June 1. “It’s an exciting time for this species,” said …
ASMFC moves forward with Jonah crab plan
MYSTIC, CT – If Jonah crabs are one thing and rock crabs are another, then what’s a sand crab or a grass crab or, especially in Maine, a peekytoe crab? Widespread local differences in nomenclature and confusion over what to call the Northeast region’s two major species of Cancer crabs led the Atlantic States Marine …
ASMFC considers new FMP for Jonah, rock crabs
ALEXANDRIA, VA – Fishermen will have a chance to speak out in September about whether or not the harvest of Jonah and rock crabs should be regulated and, if so, how. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is proposing to develop a brand new fishery management plan (FMP) for Cancer crabs, which include both …