No Glen Burnie Restaurants Named 'True Blue' for Maryland Crabs

Did the crab in your crab cake come from the Chesapeake Bay? Or did it come from Louisiana, or overseas?

Twelve Anne Arundel County restaurants are part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' True Blue program, which certifies that establishments use actual Maryland crab meat.

Most of the "true blue" locations in the county are around Annapolis, and none of the seafood restaurants in Glen Burnie are currently listed as using verified Maryland crab product. This does not mean no local restaurants use local crabs, but that the owners have simply not received certification from the state.

Due to a lack of supply, some of the program's more than 100 participants have had to sharply raise prices on the local product, The Capital Gazette reports.

But Steve Vilnit, the DNR's fisheries marketing director, told the paper that warmer waters will "get the crabs moving."

Cold waters may be partially to blame for the Maryland season's slow start, according to a March report in The Baltimore Sun.

Local editor Brian Hooks contributed to this report.