By Shannon Cavanaugh
Contributing Writer

South Carolina will not sell any new commercial blue crab fishing licenses next year, if a proposed bill is approved by the Legislature.

But the Fisheries Stabilization Act, though drafted, is waiting on a sponsor. The act was put together during the past two years by a committee of crabbers, dealers and the Department of Natural Resources, all looking for a way to make the market more profitable and less competitive.

“Our problem is not over harvesting, but too many crabbers fishing in one area and lots of arguments. We want to reduce conflict on the water,” said David Whitaker, director of fisheries management with the Department of Natural Resources in Charleston.

“Our goal is to reduce the number of traps by 25 percent. Once we reached that, we would reopen licensing to the general public through a lottery. With a reduction in traps, we expect the catch rate to go up.”

Currently, around 400 commercial licensed blue crabbers are competing for the same catch. DNR estimates that around 14,000 traps are active in the state but hopes to reduce that number to less than 10,000.

This proposal has nothing to do with “biological reasons, but purely economical” ones, and no crabber is kicked out. Only through attrition would the state reduce the number of crab pots, Whitaker said.

If passed, the detailed bill would double the fees to commercially harvest blue crabs. The state would create a new specific blue crab license and require all commercial blue crabbers to buy one for $25. They would still have to buy a commercial fishing license for $25. Crabbers would also pay $1 per trap.

Currently, the law requires crabbers to pay $25 for the first 50 traps and then $1 for each after that amount. Other changes would prevent commercial blue crabbers from using a second boat and helpers to pull allotted crab pots.

The law would limit recreational crabbers to one bushel of crabs per person, per day. Currently, there is no limit. There is still no fee for recreational crabbing, but the proposed changes would require them to use escape vents that allow smaller crabs to go free. The traps would automatically enforce the same five-inch, point-to-point size rule that commercial fishermen must follow.

These changes are proposed and contingent on the bill getting introduced by the end of the year and passed by the Legislature.

“It’s time to do something or stop talking about it,” said Fred Dockery, a commercial crabber for 17 years and a member of the committee working on the bill for the past two years.

“Got a good catch today; it isn’t always like that. Last week or so, crabbing wasn’t so good. Will try to hustle these for $30 a bushel,” said Dockery, as he empties the yellow pot and sorts them by size.

Dockery has seen everything from cut lines, stomped cages, pots being robbed and general tension among crabbers.

“They say you become what you hunt. Blue crabs are mean, combative and very aggressive creatures,” Dockery said. “It would really be nice to take that out of crabbing. Every time a new crabber comes along, it’s like divvying up the pie even more, but that piece comes out of your own piece of pie.”

Dockery understands competition. At one time, he and eight other commercial crabbers were fishing in the same small area off the Kiawah-Stono rivers. The proposed changes are not perfect but will help calm rough waters among crabbers fishing for a limited resource, he said.

“Crabbing is our livelihood. It wasn’t easy to reach a compromise, and there are things I would change in it. Everybody had to give. Nobody is getting everything they wanted. We came up with the plan to reduce the number of traps. It was something we could do, and if done properly, we would benefit from it,” Dockery said.

“It’s not about looking out for one individual crabber, but the interests of the whole group. Without it, it will be just like it is now, not very good. There’s not enough financial value in the industry to support that many crabbers.”

Beyond the tension with other fishermen, crabbers face the stress of missing pots, habitat loss, water pollution, disease and the weather. A prolonged drought from 1998 until 2002 dried up blue crab habitats and profits, as blue crabs swam upstream and out of legal reach for commercial crabbers.

That left crabbers competing for the same few crabs in a “tighter area that resulted in accusations and missing traps,” said Whitaker. This show of aggression is what prompted DNR to form a committee and come up with a proposal.

“We had no tools to manage, no way of handling the situation,” said Whitaker. “There were so many people crowding in such a small area to crab. Too many traps. We knew then we had to do something. One way to reduce conflict is to reduce traps.”

The plan would allow crabbers to sell their rights in the fishery after three years to the highest bidder. The state would reopen entrance into blue crab commercial fishing after DNR reached its reduction goal of active traps and would use a lottery system to sell new licenses.

The DNR said there are other states using similar plans.

“The ocean is considered a common property resource that belongs to everybody,” said Whitaker, “but if the state doesn’t step in and help protect the blue crabs, it’s risking everyone’s property.”

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