(MARYLAND) - Maryland's Department of Natural Resources launched its second year of the "Don't Get Pinched" enforcement campaign.
The campaign helps keep the famous Maryland blue crab population growing and safe of illegal crabbing.
DNR directed people to visit their website for information on those crabbing regulations.
Recreational crabbers must always throw back female crabs.
But for male hard blue crabs they can keep them if the crab is larger than five and a quarter inches.
DNR is hoping people will follow the rules to help further the growth of the population.
"If everyone follows the rules, harvests the limits, and throw back the smaller crabs, we have a real opportunity to continue to have better numbers for our blue crabs population," explained Brenda Davis of DNR.
Colonel George F. Johnson IV of the NRP warned everyone of the monitoring the police will be doing.
"NRP officers will be on the water, on the docks, at wholesalers, and at the roadside stands to ensure that everyone plays by the rules," explained Col. Johnson.
The new regulations will go into place on July 15th.