Northwest in Virginia Beach, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Fisheries
Bay Challenges
⎯⎯⎯ Blue Crab
Bay Critters
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 11, 2025
1. Fisheries side of the marker
Inscription.
Fisheries, also, Blue Crab. Bay Challenges, also, Bay Critters.
Fisheries Bay Challenges. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation consistently advocates for science-based fisheries management at state and regional levels.,
1800s. American shad were a top catch in the 1800s. Today, American shad are largely forgotten due to overfishing, poor water quality, and dams blocking their migrations., The oyster fishery was at its height in the 1880s, but unrestrained harvest destroyed the reefs that had accumulated over millennia, and poor water quality has impeded their return.,
1900s. By the 1940s, menhaden had become the number one Bay fishery by weight, and it remains there today. Menhaden are caught primarily for nutritional supplements and meal for animal feed. The population of this important forage fish has experienced historic lows in both the mid-1990s and mid-2000s.,
2000s. Today, blue crabs and rockfish are both top Bay fisheries, a testament to the use of science-based management to reverse declines they suffered in recent decades due to overfishing and habitat loss. Improving water quality is key to maintaining healthy populations of our iconic Bay species.,
Blue Crab Bay Critters. You can tell the difference between a male and female crab by the shape of the "apron" on its underside. The female adult apron is shaped like the U.S. Capitol dome and the male adult apron looks like the Washington Monument., Female crabs migrate to Virginia waters near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to release their eggs and can produce up to 3.2 million eggs per brood., Blue crabs use underwater grasses for shelter from predators and a place to feed on small invertebrates and plant matter., The Name Game!
Jimmy: an adult male She crab or sally: an immature female Sook: a mature female Doubler: a male crab carrying an about-to-become-fertile female Peeler: a crab about to molt Sponge crab: a mature female carrying a mass of fertilized eggs on her abdomen
A blue crab's paddle-shaped swimming fins can rotate up to 40 times per minute., Is Our Blue Crab Population Stable? The blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay fluctuates due to several factors. Healthy crab populations require clean water, plentiful underwater grasses, well-managed harvests, and an abundance of adult female crabs for reproduction.
Fisheries
Bay Challenges
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation consistently advocates for science-based fisheries management at state and regional levels.
1800s
American shad were a top catch in the 1800s. Today, American shad are largely forgotten due to overfishing, poor water quality, and dams blocking their migrations.
The oyster fishery was at its height in the 1880s, but unrestrained harvest destroyed the reefs that had accumulated over millennia, and poor water quality has impeded their return.
1900s
By the 1940s, menhaden had become the number one Bay fishery by weight, and it remains there today. Menhaden are caught primarily for nutritional supplements and meal for animal feed. The population of this important forage fish has experienced historic lows in both the mid-1990s and mid-2000s.
2000s
Today, blue crabs and rockfish are both top Bay fisheries, a testament to the use of science-based management to reverse declines they suffered in recent decades due to overfishing and habitat loss. Improving water quality is key to maintaining healthy populations of our iconic Bay species.
Blue Crab
Bay Critters
You
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can tell the difference between a male and female crab by the shape of the "apron" on its underside. The female adult apron is shaped like the U.S. Capitol dome and the male adult apron looks like the Washington Monument.
Female crabs migrate to Virginia waters near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to release their eggs and can produce up to 3.2 million eggs per brood.
Blue crabs use underwater grasses for shelter from predators and a place to feed on small invertebrates and plant matter.
The Name Game!
Jimmy: an adult male She crab or sally: an immature female Sook: a mature female Doubler: a male crab carrying an about-to-become-fertile female Peeler: a crab about to molt Sponge crab: a mature female carrying a mass of fertilized eggs on her abdomen
A blue crab's paddle-shaped swimming fins can rotate up to 40 times per minute.
Is Our Blue Crab Population Stable?
The blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay fluctuates due to several factors. Healthy crab populations require clean water, plentiful underwater grasses, well-managed harvests, and an abundance of adult female crabs for reproduction.
Erected by Chesapeake
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 11, 2025
Location. 36° 54.216′ N, 76° 5.756′ W. Marker is in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is in Northwest. It can be reached from Marlin Bay Drive east of Winston Place, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3663 Marlin Bay Dr, Virginia Beach VA 23455, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Hampton Roads, specifically in Coastal Virginia, and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Tidewater. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), June 11, 2025
Credits. This page was last revised on June 21, 2025. It was originally submitted on June 21, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 104 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on June 21, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
