One buyer said even if the harvest were stronger, he would still have a hard time moving the crabs throughout the mid-Atlantic region. That survey projected the lowest number of crabs in the Chesapeake system since the winter dredge survey started in 1990. Scientists monitoring the overall Chesapeake Bay crab population predicted an off year in 2022 based on the results of extensive sampling in the winter dredge survey. Perhaps the essential Christianity is poverty.” A lack of crab pickers and packers is another headwind currently plaguing the Chesapeake crab industry. He wrote about this scene: “These colored people so near the edge of having nothing, find joy, wonder, and great entertainment in the most insignificant items. But this year, with supply chain issues dogging the marketplace, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the tenacious coronavirus and all of its variants continuously injecting new doses of uncertainty around the world, there’s nothing typical about supply and demand behavior.ĭelmarva artist Jack Lewis included this drawing of Crab Packers, Crisfield, in his 1953 book titled The Chesapeake Bay Scene. Typically in supply and demand scenarios, shrinking supplies lead to rising prices. With gas hovering around the $5 per gallon mark and prices for everything else on the rise due to all kinds of inflationary pressures, people aren’t running as quickly to buy their crabs for summertime feasts. That translates into anywhere from $250 to $300 per bushel for consumers at the retail and restaurant level. While the season started out with watermen earning $200 per bushel and more for their crabs, that number has dropped now to the $150 per bushel range. To make matters worse, inflation appears to be putting a dent in demand. “It’s all I can do to catch one or two bushels.” “This so far is the worst crabbing season I’ve ever had in my life,” said a commercial trotliner. Some younger watermen say it was the best oyster year of their lives.Ĭrabs, however, are another story.
The 2021-2022 oyster harvest on public grounds was one of the best in years.