When are Blue Crabs in Season? (By State)
The biggest excuse I hear for not getting a bushel of crabs for dinner is that they aren’t in season. So, when are crabs in season? I asked several commercial crabbers and bait shops who have a rule of thumb that crabs start running when the water hits a certain temperature:
Blue crabs are in season when the water temperature in the rivers and bays they’re caught from reaches at least 70° F. In the Gulf States, that is in the spring and fall as the water gets too hot in the summer. For the east coast, are in season by summer and last until late fall (July to October).
If you ask officials, Maryland.gov says, “when the temperature begins to rise, crabs become more active.” That’s a very vague answer. The crabbers and fishermen, on the other hand, gave me an actual metric to track when crabs are in season. Plus, this temperature lines up with what I know to be the average crab season for the Mid-Atlantic region where I go crabbing.
Lucky for me, the NOAA tracks water temperatures at their various testing sites in different states. You can view that here. The numbers they display are averages from different testing sites across the United States. I picked stations along the coast where people go crabbing, to avoid any confusion with freshwater sites, and put it in this spreadsheet. From there, I got the average water temperature by state by month, which let me answer the question, “When are crabs in season?” with actual data.
So, let’s go over when blue crabs are in season in each state and when the best months to go crabbing are.
When are Blue Crabs in Season? (Updated for 2023)
| State | Best Months to go Crabbing | Regulated Crabbing Season |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | March to November | Open season year-round. |
| Louisiana | April to November | Open season year-round. |
| Alabama | April to November | Open season year-round. |
| Mississippi | April to November | Open season year-round. |
| Florida | March to November | Year round with trap closures every other year. |
| Georgia | April to November | Open season year-round. |
| South Carolina | May to October | Open season year-round. |
| North Carolina | May to October | Year round with regional trap closures in January and March. |
| Virginia | May to October | Legal March 17 to November 30. |
| Maryland | June to September | Legal April 1 to December 15. |
| Delaware | June to September | Pots are legal March 1 to November 30, other gear is year-round. |
| New Jersey | June to September | Delaware Bay is closed December 5 to April 5, and all other waters are closed December 1 to March 14. |
| New York | July to September | Open season year-round. |
With these averages and the legal crabbing season, we can get an idea of when crabs are in season in each state. Remember that these are averages! If you go crabbing in Virginia in May, don’t expect to come home with a 7 inch blue crab.
You should know that crabs start off small in the beginning of the season and get larger as it goes on. During the winter, blue crabs burrow in the mud and sit dormant while the water is cold. When it heats up, they emerge and start to eat and molt, which is how they grow. Since a crab usually lives for about three years (Source), they do a majority of their growth in one season. So, crabs will be the largest in the late summer or fall.
So, remember to expect the largest crabs on the market and in the water near the end of the blue crab season. Keep this in mind before you buy or catch crabs.
Three Tips to Know When Crabs are in Season
With these figures above being averages, it’s important to know for sure when crabs are running. Here are a few tips to figure this out:
- With so many factors affecting when crabs are running, which also means when they are in season, it’s a good idea to ask a local crabber. Call your local pier or bait shop if they know when are where the crabs are running. It’ll usually be their opinion or what they hear from equally reliable crabbers, but it’s a start.
- If it’s one of the months I mentioned in the table above in your state, call a local commercial crabber and ask if they’ve had any luck catching crabs. These people love to talk about whether the crabs are running, so go ahead and ask. A simple Google search will show commercial crabbers near you and their phone numbers. Just don’t try this in the middle of winter, they’ll think you’re crazy.
- Check crabbing reports on bluecrab.info. This community has hundreds of recreational and commercial crabbers that post how many crabs they caught and where. The posts are grouped by region and it’ll give you an idea if people are catching crabs near you.
The best water temperature for catching blue crabs is at least 70°F.
As I mentioned earlier, I tracked the average water temperature in waters where you’d go crabbing in each state and put it in this spreadsheet. With that, we get these numbers:
Source NOAA Coastal Water Temperature Guide.
I put a green box when the temperature gets of 70 degrees F, and a yellow box when it hits 65 degrees. I have heard of a few crabbers who have luck around 65 degrees and even 60, but I find 70 to be more reliable.
When temperatures drop to 50°F, blue crabs retreat from the shoreline to deeper waters to burrow. This is why the winter months in most states are considered crabbing off season.
When temperatures climb to 59°F, “growth” occurs in blue crabs. Crabs are evermore active as the temperature climbs. Water temperatures above 91°F is lethal for blue crabs. If water temperatures get this hot, crabs retreat to deeper and cooler waters. Commercial crabbers follow, by setting their traps further offshore.
So, the sweet spot to go crabbing is in the middle, around 70°F.
Further reading: How much does a Bushel of Crabs Cost?
Now that you know when to buy crabs, get an idea of how much it’ll cost. I poured hours of research to find out how much they cost on average, and found the best deals on the internet. Check it out here:
