South Carolina Blue Crab Limit: Size, Licenses, and Penalties

In South Carolina, the recreational blue crab limit is one bushel per person per day, with a maximum of two bushels per boat regardless of how many people are aboard.¹ That limit took effect in 2025, cutting the previous allowance in half. A standard bushel basket holds roughly 45 to 50 pounds of crabs depending on how tightly they pack.

The daily cap applies no matter how you catch them: crab pot, fold-up trap, hand line, or dip net. Conservation officers check catches at landings and on the water, and going over the limit can cost you the whole harvest plus a fine. Commercial harvesters operate under a separate quota system tied to their license, so the one-bushel rule does not apply to them.

Minimum Size: Five Inches Point to Point

Every blue crab you keep has to measure at least five inches across the carapace, measured from the tip of one lateral spine to the tip of the opposite spine. Keeping, selling, or offering to sell any blue crab under five inches is a misdemeanor under Section 50-5-1310.² If a crab in your trap or net is under size, return it to the water immediately and unharmed.

There is a narrow exception for peeler crabs headed to soft-shell production, but it applies only to licensed commercial crabbers who have written acknowledgment from a licensed peeler dealer, and that acknowledgment expires after 90 days.² Recreational crabbers have no such exception. Under five inches goes back.

Carry a gauge or caliper. Officers do measure borderline crabs when they inspect catches.

No Egg-Bearing Females (Sponge Crabs)

South Carolina bans the harvest of sponge crabs: egg-bearing female blue crabs. Section 50-5-1300 makes it illegal to take, possess, sell, or offer for sale any sponge crab, or any female crab from which the egg mass has been removed.³ They are easy to identify by the visible egg mass under the apron, which can range from bright orange to dark brown.

Pulling a sponge crab up incidentally is not itself a violation. Keeping it, or stripping the eggs off, is. Return it to the water with the egg mass intact. A conviction carries a fine between $25 and $500 or up to 30 days in jail.³

When You Need a License

If you crab with hand lines, dip nets, or fold-up traps, you generally do not need a license. Once you set crab pots, you do. A recreational saltwater fishing license covers up to two pots.¹

SCDNR added an enhanced recreational crab trap endorsement in 2025 for $5 per year. It raises your pot limit from two to five.¹ Anything above five pots is commercial territory, which requires a Commercial Saltwater Fishing License along with vessel and gear licensing.⁴ Selling any blue crabs you catch, at any volume, also requires a commercial license.

Trap Rules: Escape Vents and Markings

Every recreational crab trap has to include at least two unobstructed circular escape vents, each with an inside diameter of at least two and three-eighths inches. The vents must sit on vertical surfaces, with at least one in the upper chamber, and each within two inches of the horizontal partition or the base of the trap.⁵ The requirement runs year-round for recreational gear. If your vents are blocked by bait, debris, or damage, an officer can cite you even when the crabs inside would have been legal to keep.

Every pot also needs to be clearly marked with the owner’s name and license number. Unmarked pots can be seized, and running unlabeled gear is a separate violation from any other problem the officer might find.

Penalties

Size and sponge crab violations both fall in the same range: $25 to $500 in fines, up to 30 days in jail, or both.²³ Failing to properly display your license or permit carries the same range.⁶

More serious marine resource violations can bring fines up to $2,500 and a 12-month suspension of all saltwater fishing privileges, plus possible jail time. Officers can seize illegally harvested crabs, confiscate unpermitted gear, and board vessels to inspect. Repeat offenders and anyone crabbing at commercial scale without the right licenses face the steepest end of that scale.

1
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Changes to Blue Crab Laws Coming in 2025
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 50-5-1310 – Size Limitations for Blue Crabs; Peeler Crab and Clam Mariculture Exceptions
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 50-5-1300 – Taking of Sponge Crabs Prohibited; Import Permits; Penalties
4
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Summary of Commercial Shellfish Laws
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 50-5-545 – Commercial Blue Crab Traps; Escape Vent Requirements; Peeler Trap Exceptions
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 50-5-350 – Display of Licenses, Permits, and Vessels Identification Decal; Transfer of Licenses; Penalty