A Maryland Summer Starts With Limits on Its Big Attraction: Crab

Along the Chesapeake Bay shore in Maryland, Bobby Jones has two restaurants known for the magic they work with jumbo lump Chesapeake blue crab. But because of a recent surge in prices, he has had to start the crucial summertime season without his state’s signature dish: crab cakes.

“It’s not coming down at all,” Mr. Jones, the chef and co-owner of Ketch 22 and the Point Crab House & Grill, said of crab prices, which forced him to temporarily take the cakes off his menu. “We’re not seeing a change, and I’m not going to buy a lower-quality ingredient, so I’m just riding it out.”

As the pandemic has waned in the Mid-Atlantic States and more people feel safe eating out again, a sudden demand for crab has hit the market at the worst time. It’s driving up prices, and making it impossible for some restaurants to break even on their crab dishes. Many are turning to other types of seafood.

“When it rains, it pours,” said Zack Mills, the chef at True Chesapeake Oyster Company in Baltimore, where the price surge prompted him to reduce an entire section of his menu dedicated to blue crab to a handful of favorites. He has raised the price of his crab cake sandwich to $24, from $19.

He said the price he pays for crab, usually around $16 a pound, has recently hit a high of $34 a pound.

Watermen and suppliers said the price increases have been a long time coming, driven by several factors.