Wanted: Blue Crab Fishing Information

Have you caught a blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)with a yellow wire tag across its shell (carapace), as seen in the accompanying photo? This tag includes a specific number that identifies the individual crab and the date and location where the crab was initially tagged.

If you do capture a tagged crab, please contribute that information to the Blue Crab Tagging Programby answering a few quick questions about your catch. This information helps DEC investigate the migration patterns, habitat preferences, and life-history traits of blue crabs in New York's waters.

You can also help DEC collect important data by submitting information from each of your crabbing trips to the Digital Survey of Recreational Blue Crabbing. Simply fill out the quick and easy form on your internet-connected smartphone, tablet, or computer at the end of each of your crabbing trips. Remember to submit information for the trips where you don't catch any crabs. By participating in the digital survey, you will provide DEC's Division of Marine Resources staff with important data that we would otherwise be unable to collect.

For more information, visit Crabbing in New York!