Crabbing

Discussion in 'Sportsman's Paradise' started by LSUTiga, Jul 29, 2014.

  1. Bengal B

    Bengal B Founding Member

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    Last night I talked to a guy who had just come from eating crabs at Sammy's on Highland Road. I haven't eaten crabs there in maybe 8 or 10 years but it seemed like they were about $15 to $18 a dozen back then. Now they are $4 Dollars per Crab!!! I know that priced go up on everything but at that price a dozen would be a whopping $48 Dollars!! WTF! I asked my friend how many he ate and he said 3. Now I don't mind spending $12 or even $20 on boiled crabs but I'm damn sure not going to want to eat only 3 to 5 crabs.

    I just called Heads & Tails. The seafood market sells them for $3.32 per crab. When did they start selling crabs by the single crab for so much? You guys who have been catching your own-Are they getting rare and harder to catch a decent amount?
     
  2. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    Supply and demand. It is worse in Chesapeake Bay where a boiled jumbo crab will cost you 7 bucks or more.
     
  3. Bengal B

    Bengal B Founding Member

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    They don't boil crabs in that part of the country. They steam them with Old Bay seasoning. I was in Virginia Beach about 3 years ago and steamed crabs were selling for about $120 a bushel for medium sized ones.
     
  4. Bengal B

    Bengal B Founding Member

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    The really sad thing about is is that any crabs they boil for the lunch crowd that don't get sold get thrown away. Same thing for the ones they boil for nighttime. I know this is true because I know a guy who used to work in the kitchen at Sammy's. They probably do the same thing at a lot of other places. One time when he was working there he called me and told me to come to the back by the dumpster. He was supposed to throw a bunch of crabs away but he put them behind the dumpster for me. He would have gotten fired if he had gotten caught doing it but there were about 9 or 10 dozen perfectly good crabs in the box. I gave a lot of them away and still had all I could eat plus enough to pick the crabmeat and make stuffed crabs.
     
  5. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    It's worse in New England. They boil their seafood in water! "Sometimes we put a little dill in it."

    Most of the crabs in Chesapeake go into crab cakes but they are very good at making crab cakes up there.
     
  6. Bengal B

    Bengal B Founding Member

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    Very good and very expensive. I had crabcakes at a casual not too fancy restaurant near Baltimore.
    Two crabcakes, a salad and iced tea. $38 before the tip. Maybe there was some kind of veggie on the plate too. I don't remember.
     
  7. titoabad1

    titoabad1 Contributing Member

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    We went to Rockefeller again this weekend. Got there Friday evening around 6:30, caught a little more than four dozen before sunset. Went back Saturday morning and struggled for four hours to catch 2 dozen.
     
  8. Bengal B

    Bengal B Founding Member

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    Do you know whether the commercial crabbers are catching as many as usual? How about the retail price near the coast? All this talk about crabs is making me want some but I'll be damned if I am going to pay $48 for a dozen.
     
  9. titoabad1

    titoabad1 Contributing Member

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    I think the commercial boats are doing as well as they ever have. What I hear is that there is just a huge demand for their product ecspecially on the east coast as Red mentioned earlier. The prices near the coast are closer to $30 to $35 per dozen. Catching them for yourself is relatively cheap and easy though.
     
  10. red55

    red55 curmudgeon Staff Member

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    Health regulations. This is a good thing.
     

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