Stabilizing South Carolina’s blue crab fishery

Laws governing the blue crab fishery in South Carolina fail to put limits on harvest or participation in both the commercial and recreational components of the fishery. It has been a goal for many years at OFM to propose legislation to bring our fishery laws in line with those governing the fishery in other states. It's believed that overall abundance of blue crabs is declining while the price continues to rise. This creates a potential management issue since there are no limits on effort, catch, or participation in the commercial fishery, and similar problems exist with the recreational component of the fishery. Current and former fisheries managers for OFM would like to see legislative changes to fishery laws that limit recreational harvest to a daily limit and cap the number of commercial licenses sold each year.