Crabby lab looks to put pinch on declining crab population

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- They have more blue crabs in their basement than you could find in any Inner Harbor seafood restaurant. And what they're doing they hope will help the fate of the blue crab.

They are the researchers at the University of Maryland's Biotechnology Institute, who are working to boost the number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay.

Dr. Yonathan Zohar is overseeing a project where crabs are being raised in tanks. In just a single tank, 230,000 crabs are being raised.

The aim is to raise a large number of crabs and study their biology.

The Chesapeake Bay has seen its crab population dip from 900 million 10 years ago to below 200 million now.

The researchers hope the knowledge they obtain by studying the crab will help the crabs avoid the fate of the oyster. Oyster populations have been devastated by disease, pollution and overfishing.

"We don't want to be in the same situation for the crab," Zohar says. "If we don't act now, reversing this decrease, it will be too late."

To protect the crustaceans, both Maryland and Virginia are cutting back their female crab harvests.

Zohar says the dual-state pledge is a good thing.

"The blue crab does not have state boundaries or political boundaries."

Zohar does not blame overfishing alone for the decline in the crab population.

"We work with the watermen," Zohar says. "The watermen are our best partners."

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