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| Blue Crabs |
Blue Crabs in the Chesapeake Bay
Blue crabs are a staple of Chesapeake Bay's aquaculture and fishing industries. Blue crabs are one of the most popular bay organisms to fish for. The commercial blue crab harvest in 2000 was approximately $55 million in value and about 1/3 of the United States' crabs come from Chesapeake Bay.
Blue crabs also have a lot of ecological value to the bay. They are, both as predator and prey, a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. Birds, striped bass, drums, eels, catfish, cownose rays and some sharks all rely on the blue crab for their primary food source. Blue crab larvae are preyed upon by the planktonic community, including oysters, menhaden, bay anchovies and juveniles of other fish species. Blue crabs are also the primary consumer of the bay's benthos.
76°23'32.10"W
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