To crab commercially in Maryland, you need a Tidal Fish License (TFL) from the Department of Natural Resources, and Maryland commercial crabbing regulations then govern almost every choice you make on the water: how many pots you can set, what size crabs you can keep, which day of the week you must stay ashore, how your gear is marked, and how you report your catch. Violations carry fines and points against your license, and enough points end your season.
Getting Licensed and What It Costs
Maryland uses a single commercial license, the Tidal Fish License, to authorize catching and selling crabs. The base authorization for blue crabs using up to 50 pots, trotlines, nets, or scrapes is $100 per year. Move above 50 pots in combination with other gear and the authorization rises to $150.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-701 – Tidal Fish License
The license fee is not the whole bill. Before you can harvest for sale, you also owe a harvester registration of $215 per year and a $20 marketing surcharge.2Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commercial License Wait List A small operation using 50 or fewer pots therefore starts at $335 in annual state fees.
DNR will not issue a TFL to anyone under 14, and the total number of licenses is capped based on stock assessments. New applicants generally go on a wait list; when a spot opens, the harvester registration and marketing surcharge come due before the license issues.2Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commercial License Wait List
Pot Authorization Tiers
How many pots you can deploy depends on which authorization sits on top of your TFL:
- Limited Crab Harvester (LCC): up to 50 pots.
- CB3: up to 300 pots.
- CB6: up to 600 pots per vessel, with one licensed crew member and an additional $100 fee.
- CB9: up to 900 pots per vessel, with licensed crew and an additional $150 fee.
The CB6 and CB9 tiers only work if your licensed crew is actually on board. Without them, you drop back to the base TFL or CB3 catch limits regardless of the tier you paid for.1Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-701 – Tidal Fish License
Season Dates and the Weekly Day Off
The commercial crabbing season in the Chesapeake Bay runs April 1 through November 30. Outside those dates the season is closed.3Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commercial Chesapeake Bay Regulations
Within the season, every commercial crabber must take either Sunday or Monday off each week. You cannot set gear, retrieve gear, or catch crabs for sale on that day. You declare your day off before the season starts. The one break in the rule involves holidays: if a state or federal holiday falls on your scheduled day off, or on the Saturday next to it, you can work that day.4Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 08.02.03.14 – General Unlicensed crew helping on someone else’s boat can work Sunday or Monday, but the licensee still owes their declared day.
Size Limits, Sponge Crabs, and Bushel Caps
Size limits shift in the middle of summer, and that shift catches people every year. From April 1 through July 14, male hard crabs must be at least 5 inches point to point across the shell, peeler crabs at least 3¼ inches, and soft crabs at least 3½ inches. Starting July 15, male hard crabs move up to 5¼ inches and peelers to 3½ inches.3Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commercial Chesapeake Bay Regulations
Egg-bearing (sponge) females cannot be harvested. Penalties reach $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 or up to a year in jail for a second within two years.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-1201 – Penalties Because officers assess the violation per bushel during inspections, a single haul with females throughout can produce stacked charges.
Daily bushel limits for male hard crabs vary by license tier and by the point in the season, and DNR announces them each year in public notices. In recent seasons, mid-summer limits have ranged from 4 bushels per day for LCC holders up to 15 bushels for CB9 holders, with the early and late parts of the season sometimes running with no bushel cap at all. Certain holiday weekends have also lifted restrictions temporarily. Check the current DNR notices before each portion of the season, because these numbers change annually.
Gear Rules
Cull Rings
Every commercial crab pot set in the Chesapeake Bay or its tidal tributaries must have two cull rings in the exterior side panels or the top panel. One ring must measure at least 2-3/16 inches inside diameter, the other at least 2-5/16 inches. These openings let undersized crabs out. Pots built with very small or very large mesh (under 1½ inches or at least 2 inches unstretched on each side) are the only exception.6Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 08.02.03.07 – Crab Pots
Buoy Marking
Each individually set pot needs a buoy easily visible on the surface. A string of pots gets a buoy on each end. Every buoy must show your license identification number in letters at least 2 inches high, and a string’s buoy must also show how many pots are on the line.6Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 08.02.03.07 – Crab Pots During enforcement checks, pots that are unmarked or illegibly marked are treated the same as unlicensed gear.
Trotlines
Trotlines are a permitted commercial gear type for TFL holders in the Chesapeake Bay. Recreational trotlines are capped at 1,200 feet of baited line in the Chesapeake and 600 feet in the coastal bays of the Atlantic and their tidal tributaries.7Library of Maryland Regulations. Maryland Code of Regulations 08.02.03.03 – Trotlines Commercial trotline users should check current COMAR provisions for applicable limits, as those regulations mainly specify length caps for recreational use.
Catch Reporting
Every commercial harvester reports catch data to DNR. Three methods are available: the FACTS online system, paper forms, and SAFIS electronic reporting.8Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commercial Reporting Options
FACTS reports go in daily, but only on days you actually harvest. Paper reports are due by the 10th of each month, every month, including months you never left the dock. That last piece trips up paper reporters during the off-season. Missing reports can produce fines and can hurt your standing at renewal.8Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Commercial Reporting Options
DNR has also been running a Blue Crab Electronic Reporting Permit pilot aimed at moving harvesters toward real-time electronic reporting.9Maryland OneStop. Blue Crab Pilot Permit
Fines and License Suspension
Most commercial crabbing violations are misdemeanors under Maryland’s Natural Resources code. A first offense carries a fine of up to $1,000. A second violation within two years raises the ceiling to $2,000, up to a year of imprisonment, or both.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-1201 – Penalties Many violations have prepayable fines set by the Maryland District Courts, so an officer can issue a citation on the spot with a fixed amount instead of forcing a court date.10Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Penalty Page
Fishing commercially without a license, or while suspended, is a different tier of exposure: up to $25,000 in fines, up to a year in jail, or both.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-1201 – Penalties
The Point System
Convictions also generate points against your Tidal Fish License, and points accumulate over rolling two-year windows. The suspension schedule:
- 10 points: up to 30-day suspension.
- 15 points: up to 60-day suspension.
- 20 points: up to 90-day suspension.
- 25 points: up to 180-day suspension.
- 30 points: up to 365-day suspension.
- 35 points: revocation.
Three suspensions or revocations within six years brings an additional suspension of up to five years. Before any suspension takes effect, you have a right to notice and to request a contested case hearing, and some crabbers accept a consent agreement with a shorter suspension in exchange for waiving the hearing.11Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations 08.02.13.02 – Commercial License Suspension and Revocation
Federal Rules on Top of the State Ones
State regulations are not the whole set. A commercial vessel measuring more than 5 net tons, which covers most boats over 27 feet, must carry a Certificate of Documentation from the U.S. Coast Guard rather than relying on state boat registration alone. The vessel must be wholly owned by a U.S. citizen, and the certificate must carry a valid endorsement for the commercial activity.
Under the Jones Act, vessel owners can be held financially responsible for crew member injuries caused by negligence, including poorly maintained decks or faulty equipment. Without adequate insurance, that liability falls on the owner personally, covering medical costs, lost wages, and legal fees. This reaches most Chesapeake operations running deckhands under the CB6 or CB9 authorizations.