Any beachcombers or fishermen that find a tagged Jonah crab will be entered into a lottery that could fetch a cash prize of up to $1,000.
That’s the deal being offered by the the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, working in collaboration with the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. The idea is to assess the stock, migration patterns, and growth of Jonah crabs, the crustacean common to the coasts of New England.
Crab discoverers should report the date, location, tag number, crab sex, egg status, and whether the animal was kept or released, the Division of Marine Fisheries said in a statement. The division is also looking for the carapace width in millimeters for crabs with a green tag.
