Blue Crab Spawn: How You Can Help Protect Them

Cancún, Mexico — The spawning season for the blue crab has commenced in Cancún with the registration of 135 specimens crossing from the mangroves toward the coast, according to Fernando Haro Salinas, Director of Ecology for the Benito Juárez municipal government. He stated that this figure represents nearly half of the more than 260 crustaceans counted on the same date last year.

Haro Salinas explained that the decrease is primarily due to a lack of prior rainfall, a key factor for stimulating the species' migration. However, he anticipated that, thanks to recent precipitation, a significant rebound is expected for the second spawning event, scheduled for October 5, 6, and 7, with the possibility of reaching numbers similar to those of 2024, when the crossing of more than 430 female crabs was recorded.

He recalled that the conditions favoring the emergence of crabs toward the sea are the presence of the full moon and rain. He stated that two species coexist in the municipality that participate in this phenomenon: the blue crab and the sesarma crab, both capable of releasing between 300,000 and 700,000 eggs into the ocean during spawning.

For their protection, approximately 65 volunteers from agencies including Semarnat, Zofemat, Conanp, and the State Government provided support during the first event. Citizen participation will remain restricted to volunteers certified in the handling of these species, although an increase in the number of collaborators is expected in October.

The official exhorted citizens to drive with caution and at low speed in the areas where the crossings are concentrated: Punta Nizuc, Playa Las Perlas, and Playa del Niño in Puerto Juárez.

"The recommendation is always to reduce speed in these zones to protect the specimens," he emphasized.

During this first event, no roadkill or injuries to the crabs were reported; only the sighting of one specimen in the southern zone of the city, outside its habitat, was registered. That crab was rescued and relocated to the mangrove.