Rhode Island Crabbers - You Can Now Catch Blue Crabs After Dark!

As of this year, a 90-year-old regulation has been overturned, allowing nighttime access to blue crabs in Rhode Island.

By Jimmy FeeFebruary 20, 2025

Since the 1930s, taking blue crabs at night in Rhode Island has been illegal. It’s unclear why the regulation first went into effect, but what is clear is that in New England, crabbing after dark is much more effective than crabbing in the daylight.

We’ve covered nighttime crabbing extensively in the magazine (Blue Crabs at Night – On The Water) and in video (Living Off the Land and Sea: Nighttime Crabbing), but until now, Rhode Islanders have not been able to enjoy the fruits borne of a night in the marsh with nothing but a flashlight, a bucket, and a dip net.

The price of the nighttime access to blue crabs is a new bag limit of 25 crabs per person. Previously, recreational crabbers in Rhode Island could take an unlimited number of blue crabs per day.

The new regulations went into effect in mid-January, but Ocean State crabbers will have to wait until May or June to take advantage.

See the full list of RI Shellfishing Regulations here.

Happy Crabbing!

Jimmy Fee

Jimmy Fee is the Editor of On The Water and a lifelong surfcaster. He grew up fishing the bridges and beaches of Southern New Jersey before moving to Cape Cod in his early 20s. He's pursued striped bass from North Carolina to Massachusetts. He began with On The Water in 2008, and since then has covered a variety of Northeast fisheries from small pond panfish to bluewater billfish in the through writing, video, and podcasting.