The Maryland Watermen's Association is dedicated to the interests of all who derive beauty & benefit from Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Waters

A commercial crab potter is allowed to fish three hundred pots per person and up to nine hundred per boat.  Crab Potting is hard work,  not only in the bay but also on the shore. Crab Pots have to be cleaned constantly and a crabber spends as much time cleaning and repairing pots as he does fishing them.

A Crab Pot is two foot square made out of hex (chicken wire) or square wire and has funnels that allow the crabs to enter the pot for the bait.  The Crab Pot has upper and lower chambers with a petition (forbay) separating the lower and upper chambers, so the crabs cannot easily get out after they enter the pot for the bait.  The pots are baited with menhaden or other bait fish and/or razor clams.

The season is from the first of April to the last of Nov. The size limit on crabs is five inches, anything under that has to be returned to the bay.

Running crab pots, pulling in the float	Dumping the crabs and adding new bait
Resetting the crab pot	Loaded with crab pots and heading home
Asa & Josh Neuwiller head home after days work.	Chesapeake Bay Crabs for the table

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