Recently I was on the water with some crabbers who imparted a technique that is common knowledge in the trade but little known outside it.
Soft shell crabs are not a species unto themselves but crabs -- in our country, blue crabs-- that are trapped as they are in the process of molting their hard shells, making them 'soft' and easily edible for a period of days.
Although both male and female crabs molt a number of times during their lives, the female's first molting cycle signals her fertility -- the only time in her lifespan that she will reproduce.
At the same time that the female molts and becomes fertile, she seeks a male crab to fertilize her eggs and protect her in her vulnerable, soft-shelled state from predators such as large-mouthed bass. Crabbers have learned to increase their yields by placing a lone male crab in the trap, into which fertile, soft-shelled females (and only females) are drawn.
The female enters the trap thinking she will find protection from her natural predators; she is not programmed to suspect they are us. This is why the soft-shelled crabs we eat are so often females -- and why crab populations decline.
The crabbers I met work on a small scale compared with their Maryland counterparts from whom they learned this technique. Within two years their local blue crab population was decimated. As they stop baiting females, the population has come back.
I started this blog because there is no economic imperative for fisheries, seafood markets or restaurants to share this information. I loved eating soft-shelled crab but after learning about this practice, it was easy to decide, "never again."
There are lots of good things to eat in the world without playing predator in this cynical food chain that the crab industry has devised.
What about you? Think about it. Here's a link to a Wikipedia discussion on the subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Soft-shell_crab
I created this blog because the information these crabbers imarted was so affecting. I don't know if I'll have time to monitor or update it in any regular way. It's enough for me that you might read what real watermen know, think about it, and draw your own conclusions.
I hope you'll decide to stop eating soft shelled crabs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_shell_crab
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Soft-shell_crab
