Once again, THROW BACK THE FEMALES!!

[madcrab]

  With Mariner's good news about the return of females, I can't stress enough, THROW BACK THE FEMALES!!  It can only help the population out and why do you need to eat THEM anyway?  Have a great season keeping males!!  

[CrAbBeRpEzZ]

 ;Di agree

[procrabber]

part of the problem is that many of the females dont have male crabs to mate with. in the lower chesapeake, 75% of all the crabs are female. you often catch undoubled peeler females, undoubled soft females, and you catch adult females that are doubled up, meaning they werent mated until later. that is why the DNR doesnt reduce the female catch more. so apparently it is a loose-loose situation. we need less toilet water dumped in the bay so the grass and oysters can come back. that will do more for the crabs than throwing all of the sooks back. just remember, if you eat crab cakes, they came from females.

[jack1747]

yep yep and yep

[Black Irish]

I crab the northern reaches of the bay. Probably 80% of my catch are males. The females are often doubled up when I do get them. Obviously in the mood for love, I throw all the girls back.

[Steve]

Crab cakes are primarily female? How do you figure?

I dont know about you all but back when I used to catch females and keep them (only if they were big) they tasted different. Maybe it was my imagination or the way I cooked them, or maybe just the sight the eggs in them made me eek out. Who knows.

Is there a way to know if a female wont mate anymore? I mean, do they get to an age or size where they just dont do it anymore and are safe to keep? Not that I would, just wondering.......

Nearly all packaged crabmeat is meat from female crabs. Males are sold to restaurants because that's what everyone demands when ordering hot steamed crabs. Females are sold to picking houses where they are steamed, picked, put in containers, and sold as fresh crabmeat.

[mikesr]

Used to keep them until you set me straight with the reproduction info about the female.  I always thought they had one egg production and they were done.  Thanks, I'll pass the word at my marina because many there think the same way I did.  Throw em back.

[jack1747]

Jimmies take to less salty water.  Sooks go to the salt.

[Crabpop]

Is there a way to know if a female wont mate anymore? I mean, do they get to an age or size where they just dont do it anymore and are safe to keep? Not that I would, just wondering.......

Well, this is a difficult question.  Sometimes the grey hair is a giveaway, or the wrinkles.  Hard to tell with size, some get quite big, others are skinny.  As far as being safe to keep, I think...
[[[SHE'S TALKING ABOUT CRABS, YOU DUMMY!!!!]]]
Oh!! Ok, never mind...

Crabpop

[CRABGUY]

DOUGHHHHHH

[crabbyds lil girl]

  I agree 100%!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joe Crabs]

So do I CLG, threw a 5' 7" back 17 yrs. ago, been great ever since.

[kingcrabber]

...the only way you can tell if a female won't ever mate again...is IF YOU KEEP HER ....throw 'em back

[Joe Crabs]

Hey KC, I said I do, she said I don't, I said your outa here. But I have now been married over 10 yrs, and our first date (after the club) was crabbing. If it's broke and can't be fixed, get rid of it. I am a realist. Too many people dwell over major problems because of their personal beliefs and are miserable the rest of there lives.  Some things aren't meant to be.

[Joe Crabs]

Hey it bothered me for a long time, I didn't want to do it, it was against my religious beliefs, but sometimes you have to move on. The consolation was I did do everything in my mind to save it, just wasn't going to work out. No regrets, no looking back.