Harsh winters can be tough on crab populations, especially on crabs burying themselves in the shallow mud bottoms that are exposed on low tides. Crabs that bury in deeper water are less susceptible to being killed by cold temperatures.
“We left a lot of juvenile crabs on the bottom last fall (2017) . I am worried about the crabs with the freeze up that we had. Tides were making low and I saw ice as thick as it was in 1976 - 1977. ”