crab questions

Bosun Higgs

Bosun Higgs

N/A
Joined
26 Nov 2009
Messages
13,406
Location
everywhere
Visit site
having got a pollack skeleton left over, I put the pot out last night but in a sheltered estuary. Didnt expect anything to come of it - more a case of something to do.

This morning it was heaving ( I stoppedcounting when I got to 60) with baby crabs all of which I put back unharmed. But it did pose some questions that the forum might answer.

1/ do crabs migrate inshore to spawn? If not how do the little crabs get there? And if they do migrate, why didnt
I catch any big ones?
2/ mostly the pot was full of small green crabs. Do they ever grow into big green crabs - I've never seen any. And are green crabs edible?
3/ Why were there no baby spider crabs?
 
Can't help with the questions but perhaps you could interest the 'Deadliest Catch' prod team in making a UK version based on your experiences? ;)
 
Bosun Higgs said:
having got a pollack skeleton left over, I put the pot out last night but in a sheltered estuary. Didnt expect anything to come of it - more a case of something to do.

This morning it was heaving ( I stoppedcounting when I got to 60) with baby crabs all of which I put back unharmed. But it did pose some questions that the forum might answer.

1/ do crabs migrate inshore to spawn? If not how do the little crabs get there? And if they do migrate, why didnt
I catch any big ones?
2/ mostly the pot was full of small green crabs. Do they ever grow into big green crabs - I've never seen any. And are green crabs edible?
3/ Why were there no baby spider crabs?
Click to expand...

Can't help...........but I notice you've really taken to this fishing/crabbing/hunting lark.

Good luck, it's a great hobby/sport.
 
Bosun Higgs said:
having got a pollack skeleton left over, I put the pot out last night but in a sheltered estuary. Didnt expect anything to come of it - more a case of something to do.

This morning it was heaving ( I stoppedcounting when I got to 60) with baby crabs all of which I put back unharmed. But it did pose some questions that the forum might answer.

1/ do crabs migrate inshore to spawn? If not how do the little crabs get there? And if they do migrate, why didnt
I catch any big ones?
Click to expand...

The green ones are shore crabs, they are always there.


Bosun Higgs said:
2/ mostly the pot was full of small green crabs. Do they ever grow into big green crabs - I've never seen any. And are green crabs edible?
Click to expand...

Your pot needs to be in deeper water to avoid catching these .. maximum size is about 8cm, so not big enough to be worth eating.

Bosun Higgs said:
3/ Why were there no baby spider crabs?
Click to expand...

presumably too much competition from the residents who are better adapted for shallow estuarine conditions
 
The green crabs are shore crabs and that is their adult size. I believe they are not edible.

Edible crabs are generally found in deeper water (at least 10m). They live either in the silt in quieter areas or in the cracks in rocks; I have seen them whilst scuba diving in pretty much every habitat (silt, sand, rock, wreck). They come out and forage at night. If I was placing a crab pot (not that I have), I would want it in 10-20 of water near to a rocky shore, but that would pose the problem of possible entanglement. Perhaps use echo sounder to find place near a rocky shore or a reef when the sea bed starts to flatten off on a sandy/silty bottom.

Female crabs carry eggs (you occasionally find "berried" females- always put them back), which hatch into free swimming larvae. These then settle in places of suitable shelter and the adult crab grows by periodic moulting and forming a new shell (you occasionally catch a crab which has recently moulted- soft- these do not make good eating).

One seldom finds crabs I shallow (ie scuba diving depths) in winter, but often in summer (unless they are all fished out!). From this, I infer that they migrate to deeper water in winter.

In my opinion, crabs from muddy/silty locations do not taste very nice, whereas those from rocky environments are the food of kings.
 
This is more like what you're looking for;-:D

008_zpsaa0cc633.jpg


As already stated, deeper and rocky seabed.

edible brown crab, has a pie crust shell with black tipped legs and claws, hens ALWAYS put back please, take the cock crabs of reasonable size, limits vary around uk waters from 115mm to 160mm across the carapace, details here;- https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...achment_data/file/183442/minimumfishsizes.pdf
 
Last edited:
MASH said:
I shan't even ask how you identify a "hen"...
Click to expand...

But I'll show you an image anyway;) these are not brown crabs, but the identification process is the same, as stated above the bomb bay doors are different.

The cock crab is the top image, the hen the lower,even easier if she's carrying roe,(image 3) the tail will be full of redish balls forcing the tail away from the body, hope this helps

crabs_zps41537513.jpeg


crab1_zpsa702e2cc.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top