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Crab Season Underway by Fred Delkin The North Pacific’s winter challenge is underway for Oregon’s commercial Dungeness crab fleet, which concluded its annual price argument with processors in mid-December, just in time to bless our holiday tables with the succulent Cancer magister.
Neptune waves his trident with abandon these winter months, roiling our coastal seas into foaming caldrons that each year claim a few of the over 350 Oregon-registered crab harvesting vessels. The intrepid crews who man these craft can be expected to haul in a minimum of 10 million pounds of Dungeness, with the bulk of the catch extending into February, though the commercial season lasts until August 15 and a few commercial boats continue to fish until season’s close. We firmly believe that prime Dungeness is the world’s most succulent species of crab. It cannot be excelled for texture and taste when prepared fresh from the clean, cold waters of the North Pacific. The name derives from a crab covered bay on the north edge of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where the Dungeness River empties. British captain George Vancouver dubbed the bay and the narrow, sandy spit that protects it from the Strait of Juan de Fuca after a similar landmark on the English Channel when he explored and charted Pacific Northwest waters in the late eighteenth century. By the second half of the nineteenth century, commercial fishing for Dungeness was established. San Francisco Bay was home port for the earliest concentration on this species, with the California gold rush generating new consumers. As the 20th century began, ports in Oregon and Washington were landing Dungeness in growing numbers. Following World War II, Alaska and British Columbia developed significant annual harvests of the tasty crustacean. The annual Dungeness West Coast commercial landings now weigh in at over 38 million pounds as a yearly average. Baited Pots Call Crab Heavy, circular steel traps measuring 36” to 48” across and attached
to a line marked with a floating buoy for retrieval are the commercial
crabber’s mainstay. They are baited with fish to attract the bottom-dwelling
crabs Processors produce fresh, whole cooked Dungeness for delivery while refrigerated to market. At the height of the winter season, whole crabs are glazed and frozen to handle the surplus catch, but this treatment never meets the taste standards of those who have dined on the fresh flesh. A Dungeness crab is 20-25% meat by weight in leg and body flesh, and processors deliver fresh picked meat to retailers and restaurants in vacuum packed one pound bags or in five pound cans. Whole Cracked Crab Only Way to Go Handling, packing and shipping technology now allows Dungeness to be shipped alive by air in 50-pound insulated cartons to virtually any major world market. Shipping mortality is less than 5% and upon arrival, the live crab can be kept alive indefinitely in cold water display tanks…even living compatibly with lobsters. This is very popular with Asian restaurants and seafood retailers. When purchasing live Dungeness, make sure your chosen crustaceans are frisky, and not packed air tight. Keep them damp and cool until ready to cook…preferably in a pot of at least eight quart capacity and filled with salted (we recommend ½ cup salt per gallon) water. Boil crab 18 minutes, then drain, clean and chill. Okay, we’ve discussed the commercial aspects of local crabbing. Now, let’s consider the joys of catching your own. Unlike those intrepid folk who motor into winter’s worst weather, you can supply your appetite with sport crabbing as spring and summer calm Oregon’s coastal waters. We’re talking small boats in bays and estuaries, with no need to venture into the open ocean where the big boys string their pots. A basket formed with two iron hoops and nylon mesh is an inexpensive
rental at virtually every bayside marina in our state. The upper
hoop is larger than the lower one and allows the net to lie flat when lowered
to bay bottom. You’ll need a measurement device to ascertain the breadth of your crab backs. You’ll also need to recognize that the female of the species has a significantly broader underflap than the male, and must be returned to the deep. Feasting on the Beach If you go bay crabbing midweek, you’ll likely find empty beach spaces where you can drive your boat ashore and prepare your catch in the optimum manner. You build a driftwood fire, dip the cooking pot full of seawater and boil the crab. Now you’ll be forced to clean the result. Start by turning each crab belly up and remove the narrow flap or apron. Turn the crab over and lift off the top shell. Now, spoon out the crab butter, a soft substance you set aside to mix into the mayonnaise you brought along.
Be not hesitant about the butter, native Americans caught their crab for this substance and often discarded meat along with the shells. Discard the feathery gills on either side of the body cavity, and loose bits of harder internal material. Rinse crab in some fresh bay water, cut in half and unleash your crab crackers, so the meat can be dipped in your bowl of butter and mayonnaise (which we like to enhance with a gentle jot of Tabasco). Sure, you have microbrews and previously prepared garlic bread to accompany a true Pacific Northwest gourmet experience. Biology Notes Crabs of legal size must age at least three years. Crabs grow by shedding their old shell, or molting. They molt several times during their first two years. By their third year, crabs molt only once per annum. Most males molt during the late summer and fall months and will require at least two months to harden their shells and fill with meat. Thus August is a recommended cutoff for both commercial and sport crabbers. A female crab produces up to 2 ½ million eggs, so preservation of the species is well assured. The crab population of Oregon’s bays is phenomenally dense, as we’ve observed with a brief scuba diving jaunt in Tillamook Bay…and these bay are merely nurseries for the crab commercially harvested in the open ocean. Recipe Suggestion Growing up in Seattle, Crab Louis was a salad dish seen on a majority of dining menus. More sophisticated renditions of cold crab, lettuce and tomatoes have now evolved, but Louis lives on in the form of a giant inflatable…”Louie”, a 30’ x 20’ x 12’ tall creature weighing over 200 pounds that our state’s Dungneness Crab Commission drapes on rooftops at events for our crab industry that have included California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington and Shanghai China. There’s a growing roster of Dungeness recipes being concocted by, in particular, today’s Northwest chefs. However, we maintain that cold cracked crab, either on the beach or on a newspaper covered table in someone’s residence is by far the prime treatment for this champion crustacean…and we decry those who would serve melted butter rather than the crab butter-mayonnaise-Tabasco preparation we favor.
However, we of late have been asked to judge some professional chef
crab cake contests and have an appreciation for this preparation.
Our wife Marlene has been earning plaudits for her version of this discipline,
which includes native Oregon shrimp.
Marlene’s Crab & Shrimp Cakes ½ tsp. dry Mustard ½ cup finely chopped Celery
Break up larger pieces of Crab, chop Shrimp into thirds. Mix all ingredients, using half of the Bread Crumbs. Form mixture into 3” diameter, ½ inch thick patties. Coat patties with remainder of Bread Crumbs. Place patties on Olive Oil greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. © 2003 Oregon Magazine |
during
a 2-3 day “soak” period in the open ocean, at a depth of 30-180 feet.
The average boat fishes 250-300 pots. Crabs are kept alive in on-
board tanks as the pots are dumped to assure they are alive and kicking
when they arrive at a shoreside processor. Only male crabs with a
minimum measurement of 6 ¼” across the shell meet legal catch requirements.
Smaller males and all females are returned alive to the depths.
You
keep track of your ring placement by the coded buoys attached to your trap
and leave your enticement (baited with bottom fish) no longer than 20 minutes
on the bottom. When hauled rapidly to the surface, the flat ring
forms a basket temporarily trapping crabs. Two people in an outboard
runabout, one steering, the other pulling rings, is the necessary on-board
crew.
