Va. Regulators Hold Off On Blue Crab Rule Changes
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) -- Virginia regulators will wait until a study of the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population is completed before they make any major changes to rules governing the state's fishery.
The Daily Press reports that the Virginia Marine Resources Commission decided Tuesday to defer any rule changes until it can review the study's findings. The results are expected to be released this summer.
An annual winter dredge survey found that a cold winter killed nearly a third of the bay's adult crabs. That survey's results show the population at 460 million, down from more than 650 million in last year's survey.
The crab population remains above benchmarks that the commission set three years ago.
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