Douglas Lipton, a University of Maryland assistant professor who specializes in seafood economics, confirmed that worries about the health of the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population have led to harvest restrictions that have pinched watermen. Now they are getting lower rates while the price of crab is going high. Lipton also told that this situation got a certain amount of fear and people (closely) scrutinizing & purchasing decisions.
It is said that for most Marylanders, an afternoon of picking crabs is considered an expensive treat, and therefore might be deemed off-limits for cash-strapped diners. When the economy’s bad, people can’t afford crabs, said Larry Simns, longtime president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association. But some local restaurants said they haven’t seen any dip in crab sales.
Matt Weidman, general manager of Thursday’s Steak and Crab House in Galesville, opined that doom-and-gloom predictions last summer didn’t pan out. He added that now most of the crabs at Thursday’s are from a local crabber, and within a few weeks all crabs will be local. At Buddy’s Crabs and Ribs, a popular tourist spot on Main Street in Annapolis, business also is good.
At Shoreline Seafood on Route 3 in Gambrills, General Manager Mike Storm said he still has plenty of customers, but their spending habits have changed. He told that he was concerned that business would fall off this year, but he said the season started strong with Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. Crabbers are getting paid about $70 to $80 for a bushel of No. 1 crabs, down from about $90 earlier this season.
