The key findings of our study were (i) hatchery-reared and wild
juvenile blue crabs survived at similar rates, (ii) hatchery-reared and
wild crabs had similar growth rates in the field, and (iii) survival was
highly variable among release sites highlighting the importance of
site selection to stocking success. Overall, the results demonstrate
that hatchery-reared blue crabs are not disadvantaged with respect
to survival or growth relative to wild conspecifics, and continue to
indicate that the blue crab has promise as a candidate for restocking in
Chesapeake Bay. Further, because hatchery-reared and wild blue
crabs did not differ in either survival or growth, release experiments
with hatchery-reared animals provide a valuable potential source of
biological data for stock assessment biologists and fishery managers