text:  A winter dredge fishery would target a population of majority female blue crabs at a critical stage in their life cycle before they spawn the next generation of crabs. According to the presentation given to the commission by its staff, the winter dredge fishery was estimated to harvest 32% of the female crabs that are in the bay at the start of the dredge season and up to 96% of the dredge fishery harvest is female.