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Chesapeake Bay Crabs in Deep Trouble | Charlottesville News
Blue crab numbers in Chesapeake Bay are plummeting—down by half since 2011—with scientists baffled by the cause. Recruitment, or young crabs surviving to adulthood, is crashing, and while factors like invasive catfish, pollution, and habitat loss are suspected, none fully explain the trend. The bay’s ecosystem, which relies on crabs as a keystone species, is under threat. Despite a brief rebound after stricter fishing rules in 2018, adult female populations continue to decline. Models based on temperature and pollution don’t match real-world data, leaving experts scrambling. The fix? Clean…
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