The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will hold public hearings on proposed changes to recreational and commercial crab regulations on Feb. 3 in the Dorchester County Commissioner's Office in Cambridge, and on Feb. 4 in the C-1 Conference Room at the Tawes State Office Building in Annapolis. Both hearings will begin at 7 p.m.

The proposed changes involve the use of trotlines, collapsible crab traps, crab net rings, crab pots and catch limits for noncommercial crabbers, and a requirement for a float marking the middle of commercial trot lines that exceed 2,000 feet.

The proposals implement provisions of a new law that permits recreational crabbers to use up to 600 feet of trotline without a noncommercial crabbing license. With a noncommercial crab license, recreational crabbers are permitted to use 1,200 feet of trotline.

Recreational crabbers without a noncommercial crab license are limited to the use of a combination of no more than 10 collapsible crab traps or crab net rings. Recreational crabbers with a noncommercial license may use no more than a combination of 30 collapsible traps or net rings.

Waterfront property owners may currently set up to two crab pots from their pier or property. The proposed regulations also would require that crab pots set for noncommercial purposes from private piers be modified to prevent the accidental trapping of terrapins, snapping turtles and muskrat. Crab pots set in creeks and tributaries inadvertently capture and drown air breathing aquatic animals. A scientific study conducted on the Patuxent River demonstrated that terrapin populations in small creeks can be severely impacted, and that the proposed modification will not decrease the number of crabs caught in the crab pot.

The regulation would require a rectangular wire frame, not to exceed 1 3/4 inches by 4 3/4 inches at each of the entrance funnels of the crab pot. The device can be made of wire material that is readily available, for less than one dollar.

Crab pots set by commercial crabbers have always been prohibited in tributaries of the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, the primary habitat for the terrapin population. The requirement for the modification device will not apply to commercial crab pots set in the Chesapeake Bay.

The proposed regulations also will allow recreational crabbers with a noncommercial crab license to catch up to two bushels of crabs per day. Three bushels per day will be allowed if two or more individuals are on a boat, and one holds a noncommercial crab license. Two individuals with noncommercial crab licenses on the same boat may catch three bushels of crabs per day. Recreational crabbers may catch one dozen peeler or soft crabs per day without a noncommercial license, and three dozen per day with that license.

To avoid conflicts in laying trotline, licensed commercial watermen laying more than 2,000 feet of trotline would be required to have an additional float, of the same size, shape and color as their end floats, near the middle of their line.

Written comments will also be accepted and should be sent to Carol Pelli, Fisheries Service, Tawes State Office Building C-2, 580 Taylor Ave., Annapolis MD 21401. Comments must be received by Feb. 9, 1999.