Management Evaluation for the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Fishery: An Integrated Bioeconomic Approach

Abstract: We integrated two existing biological models and a newly developed economic demand model to evaluate the biological and economic performance of alternative policies in the Chesapeake Bay blue crab Callinectes sapidus fishery subject to the requirement that yield and revenue be sustainable. The resulting model was able to compare outcomes of alternative management scenarios considered by policy makers. In order to provide insights into the impacts of relevant policy components in a management scenario, we regressed the sustainable outcomes, sustainable yield, and sustainable revenues on a set of policy components. A short fishing season for female crabs combined with a long fishing season for males appeared to increase sustainable yield and revenue. Among size limit policies, lower minimum limits for males, females, peelers, and soft-shell crabs appeared to reduce sustainable outcomes, while a restrictive maximum size limit for mature females seemed to improve fishery performance with respect to both sustainable revenue and sustainable yield.