According to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), any person desiring to take or catch finfish or shellfish for recreational purposes in the tidal waters of Virginia must first obtain the appropriate gear license. All licenses are valid for a calendar year and expire December 31 in the year issued. A license for up to 5 recreational pots is $36 and can be purchased from any VMRC licensing agent. The season for the Recreational Gear License, up to 5 crab pots, is June 1 through September 15.

Exemptions: (exempt from licensing requirements) 

  • Taking by dip net, hand line, or two crab pots as much as one bushel of hard crabs and two dozen peeler crabs in any one day for personal use aboard any vessel. If crabbing occurs from shore (crabs are not possessed on a vessel) the possession limit is one bushel and two dozen peeler crabs per person per day.
  • Using one tank or float no greater than 4 feet in width and 8 feet in length for shedding crabs for personal use.
  • Taking, by hand, a maximum of 5 horseshoe crabs in any one day for non-commerical use only. No harvesting allowed from any shore or tidal waters of Virginia, within 1000 feet in any direction, of the mean low water line, from May 1 through June 7.

Annual License Fees:

  • Recreational crab pound or trap: $6
  • Ordinary crab trot line up to 300 feet: $10
  • Up to 5 recreational crab pots: $36

Gear Restrictions:

  • It is unlawful for any person to use more than five crab pots recreationally.
  • Any law or regulation applying to the setting or fishing of commercial gill nets, fish cast nets, fish dip nets, crab pound/traps or crab trot lines shall also apply to such gear when set or fished for recreational purposes.
  • It is unlawful for any person to place, set, or fish or knowingly leave any hard crab pot or peeler pot in any Virginia tidal waters from December 1 through March 16.
  • From May 16 to September 15, it is unlawful to set or fish any recreational crab pot in the Virginia Blue Crab Sanctuary.
  • A recreational crab pot must have at least two unobstructed cull rings at least 23/8  inches inside diameter cullrings located one each in opposite exterior side panels of the upper chamber of the pot; except on seaside of Accomack & Northampton Counties where each pot must have two cull rings.
  • Each crab pound/trap must have at least four unobstructed cull rings of at least 11/2 inch inside diameter, located two each under water in the lower portion of two opposite side panels (perpendicular to the shoreline) of the retention box.
  • Any person licensed to use a recreational crab trotline license (300' maximum) or a recreational crab pound/trap is now limited to one bushel hard crabs and two dozen peeler crabs in any one day for personal use.
  • It is unlawful to take or harvest crabs from any part of a pound net marked by orange flags, unless such person has the written permission of the owner of the pound net. It is unlawful for any person to tamper with any flag marking the prohibited fishing zone of any pound net.
  • It is unlawful to capture or kill any fish, shellfish, or marine organisms by means of explosives, drugs, or poisons in any waters of the Commonwealth or in any waters under its jurisdiction.
  • It is unlawful to capture or kill any fish, shellfish, or marine organisms by means of explosives, drugs, or poisons in any waters of the Commonwealth or in any waters under its jurisdiction.

Gear Marking and Reporting Requirements: Buoys of any crab pot, eel pot, gill net or ordinary crab trotline, and an offshore stake of any crab trap, used for recreational purposes, shall be marked legibly with the licensee's last 4 numbers of his/her social security number or driver's license number, preceded with the letter "R"; these figures must be at least 1 inch in height. Any person catching fish or shellfish using a recreational license must report annually on forms provided by the Commission: the weight and species harvested, location of harvest, days fished and amount of gear used. Size/Catch Restrictions:

  • Dark sponge (brown through black coloration) crabs must be returned to the water alive and not altered or destroyed in any manner during the period of March 17 thru June 30; however, a tolerance of 10 dark sponge crabs per bushel is allowed.
  • Any person licensed to use a recreational crab trotline license (300’ maximum), recreational 5-Crab Pot License, or a recreational crab pound/trap is limited to one bushel of hard crabs and two dozen peeler crabs in any one day for personal use.

Minimum Size Limits:

  • 5 inches for male hard crabs (jimmies) and immature female hard crabs
  • 3 ¼ inches for peeler crabs caught from March 17 through July 15 and 3 ½ inches from July 16 until November 30 in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries
  • 3 ¼ inches for peeler crabs caught on the seaside of the Eastern Shore
  • 3 1/2 inches for softshell crabs measured from tip to tip of the longest spikes
  • No size limits exist for adult female hard crabs (sooks)

For more info, click to mrc.virginia.gov/regulations/recfish&crabrules.shtm

For Maryland Crabbing Regulations, click to proptalk.com/maryland-crabbing-regulations.