‘Melvin’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’
In an effort to help solve the problem of declining blue crab populations in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland attempted to buy back 2,000 crabbing licences – asking the crabber to name his/her own price. However, Maryland recently abandoned the plan, citing the few bids they received were too high (one offered his $50 license for $425 million – an obvious “protest bid”).
As it turns out, many license-holders haven’t actually crabbed in years, so why do they want to keep their licenses? Some see the license as a part of their identity and a connection to a past livelihood on the Chesapeake.
So you have to give it to Maryland for trying to save those little yummy crabs that we all want to have around forever, but it looks like the state may have to tackle the problem from another angle for now.
