September brings us full, meaty crabs — the best of the season. Enjoy with these crab recipes, including a Crab Pretzel, Crab Vegetable Soup, and the grand prize recipe for Crab Imperial Nachos from 12-year-old Adam Gibson, winner of Crisfield's Hard Crab Derby Cookoff. Curious about cooking with crab? Below, find information about Live Crabs, Steamed Crabs, Crabmeat and Nutritional Information.

 

What’s a foodie to do? The blue crustacean that arguably defines Chesapeake cuisine could be the very food we drive into nonexistence. So, chew or eschew? Celebrate or venerate from afar?

Turns out, “to eat or not to eat” is not the question.  Much like every other resource Americans have ever glommed onto, the real question is, can we succeed through conservation? Can we control ourselves? Can we have our crabs and eat them too?

According to an article from NOAA, the “2008 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Advisory Report” says that:

The 2007 bay-wide harvest of 43.5 million pounds was the lowest recorded since 1945. Based on the historical relationship between crab population and the following year’s harvest, the 2008 harvest was expected to remove approximately 67 percent of the bay’s adult crab population. These harvest levels are higher than a healthy crab population can sustain.

New regulations were implemented by Maryland, Virginia, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission in 2008 that are primarily designed to reduce fishing pressure on female crabs. These changes are expected to reduce the amount of crabs taken to near the target level.

Maryland Seafood.org is the Department of Ag's Seafood and Aquaculture Department, and an excellent source for information from recipes to festivals.

 

Joe Eccleston, its Seafood Marketing Specialist, has this to say:  "Purchase what you can eat in order to cut back on waste. Leftover crab?  Pick the meat and use it to make one of the many delicious recipes on our site.  Also, make sure you buy from a licensed/reputable dealer."

 

So perhaps it comes to this. Enjoy, but enjoy sensibly. We recommend going for the large males. (Females do breed more than once in a season, and maybe we should let the smaller ones grow.) And for sheer personal economy, why not get a pound of great crabmeat? It goes so much farther.

Facts and Tips about Crabs  

Source: Maryland Seafood Marketing Association

 

Cooking Live Crabs
•  Crab season runs from April 1 through late fall.
•  Purchase only crabs that show a lot of movement. (Crabs that have been stored in a cooler will be slow, but they’ll still be moving.)
•  Don’t cook crabs that are dead. Cook ONLY live crabs!
•  Crabs should be cooked the same day they are purchased.
•  Crabs will remain alive for roughly 6-8 hours if the crabs were refrigerated when purchased.

Steamed Crabs
•  Steamed crabs may be kept in the refrigerator for 5-7 days
•  A bushel of #1 crabs will average about 60-70 crabs (approximately 5-6 dozen). This will feed about 10-12 people.
•  About seasoning: Crabs steamed prior to purchase usually have had salt and other seafood seasonings added. Your crabhouse will generally ask how you’d like them seasoned. If you are on a low sodium-restricted diet, steam your own crabs or purchase fresh handpicked meat to be safe.
•  Cooked crabs should NEVER be stored in the same basket in which they were purchased.