Roadside crab rip offs

[Stumpnocker]

 Since time and distance to the water is a factor, I bought some live crabs from a roadside truck yesterday, The guy shows me the top layer on the basket & they looked ok, So he goes in his walk in & counts me out 4 dozen Medium to Large crabs, I pay him $50.00 and head home His big sign along the road says Big Crabs $10.00 a dozen, When i get home & start my steamer boy was I surprised, The brown paper grocery bags he filled while inside the walk in had numerous small crabs & maybe 8 or 10 mediums, I got my measure stick out of my boat & measured 11 crabs that were under 5"! Why don't the DNR check these roadside ripp off artists? We have DNR around here & although they're not on water patrol they should be able to enforce such laws. This guy said the crabs came from the Chesapeake, I know if I'm on the water crabbing I seem to get checked at least once a day, How in the [Sam Hill] can these guys get away with this? and before you say it,, he said these were Md. Crabbs, Not Va. !

[flounderpounder]

been there done that ....thats why i got a boat...lol   i was tired of gettin ripped  by these kind of shady roadside guys....prob some crackhead workin for the man tryin to shave himself off some pocket money

[Mikie]

Exactly what I said in another post.

[bassman349]

Call DNR and rat on him, see if they can come up with a bunch of undersized and ruin his day.  If the guy ripped me off like that , I believe a little revenge would be all in good fun. 

[madcrabber1113]

There are people like that in every business.Best thing to do is look at the crabs before you pay.

[crazy crabber]

Call DNR and rat on him, see if they can come up with a bunch of undersized and ruin his day.  If the guy ripped me off like that , I believe a little revenge would be all in good fun. 

Agreed! I'd want some revenge as well!

[CaptMoose]

Always watch them bag your crabs.  Then you can see what you are getting.  Crabs should be lively and the size you ordered.

Sounds like maybe you got some NJ crabs where the min size is 4.5" (which is ridiculous).

[Seaweed]

Was this in Taneytown, MD?

[jack1747]

Always watch them bag your crabs.  Then you can see what you are getting.  Crabs should be lively and the size you ordered.

Sounds like maybe you got some NJ crabs where the min size is 4.5" (which is ridiculous).

I'm 99% sure those crabs are illegal to in MD... 

[Stumpnocker]

 YES-Taneytown Md ,,On sat. afternoon ,look at his add on Craigslist under Frederick Md, says he's there every Fri evening & all day Sat & Sun. This guy is selling illegal crabs, But I steamed them right & they were tasty,& i had to pick & pick & was still hungry, Just really disapointed ! I crab, I know what a legal crab looks like. This guy went in behind a closed door & filled up 2 brown paper shopping bags & handed them to me, He seemed like a good guy, But he Screwed me big time! This kind of crooked [shiz] makes all crabbers look bad!

[madcrabber1113]

YES-Taneytown Md ,,On sat. afternoon ,look at his add on Craigslist under Frederick Md, says he's there every Fri evening & all day Sat & Sun. This guy is selling illegal crabs, But I steamed them right & they were tasty,& i had to pick & pick & was still hungry, Just really disapointed ! I crab, I know what a legal crab looks like. This guy went in behind a closed door & filled up 2 brown paper shopping bags & handed them to me, He seemed like a good guy, But he Screwed me big time! This kind of crooked [shiz] makes all crabbers look bad!

         Just have him show you every crab before you pay.

[realcraw]

Also, you get what you pay for. At $10 a dozen even if they were big I'm sure thay would be light (empty).

[coggi]

He is allowed 5 undersized crabs per bushel.

[captaincrab55]

YES-Taneytown Md ,,On sat. afternoon ,look at his add on Craigslist under Frederick Md, says he's there every Fri evening & all day Sat & Sun. This guy is selling illegal crabs, 

 This kind of crooked [shiz] makes all crabbers look bad!

   Thanks for the Heads Up, but please explain how this guy  "Makes all crabbers look bad" ??

[Mr. Breeze]

YES-Taneytown Md ,,On sat. afternoon ,look at his add on Craigslist under Frederick Md, says he's there every Fri evening & all day Sat & Sun. This guy is selling illegal crabs, But I steamed them right & they were tasty,& i had to pick & pick & was still hungry, Just really disapointed ! I crab, I know what a legal crab looks like. This guy went in behind a closed door & filled up 2 brown paper shopping bags & handed them to me, He seemed like a good guy, But he Screwed me big time! This kind of crooked [shiz] makes all crabbers look bad!

We close the door when we load the bags too, but when we come out, we make sure the customer looks at the crabs before he/she pays for them.  Our insurance requires that no one be in the walkin when we load the crabs.  Something about liabilty with wild animals.

The real issue here is the old adage, You get what you pay for .  It's true in many things, but couldn't be more true when buying crabs.  If they are really cheap, you can expect junk, except in late october and november

[Seaweed]

YES-Taneytown Md ,,On sat. afternoon ,look at his add on Craigslist under Frederick Md, says he's there every Fri evening & all day Sat & Sun. This guy is selling illegal crabs, But I steamed them right & they were tasty,& i had to pick & pick & was still hungry, Just really disapointed ! I crab, I know what a legal crab looks like. This guy went in behind a closed door & filled up 2 brown paper shopping bags & handed them to me, He seemed like a good guy, But he Screwed me big time! This kind of crooked [shiz] makes all crabbers look bad!

Yeah, I saw his ad, and I saw your (I'm guessing it was your) response on CL.

[Dreampixels]

What are the laws if this fellow bought his crabs from out of state to resell them. If he had a receipt of his purchase would he be legal?

I am not saying he is using good business practices, but just wondering about the legality.

[jack1747]

I don't think you can even transport undersized crabs thru MD.....

[mdjohn]

I believe the DNR uses the expression "have them in your possession" or "possessing"

otherwise you can say the undersized crabs in your boat came from another state and are legal ---- not

 

[ChrisS]

I don't think you can even transport undersized crabs thru MD.....

Lacey Act?

[jack1747]

E. Notwithstanding Natural Resources Article, §4-809, Annotated Code of Maryland, a person may not:

(1) Catch or possess more than 5 hard crabs per bushel or 13 hard crabs per barrel which measure less than the minimum size specified in these regulations;

(2) Possess hard crabs imported from another State which:

(a) Measure less than 5 inches across the shell from tip to tip of the spike;

(b) Do not comply with the tolerance limits of the jurisdiction of origin;

(c) Are not accompanied by a bill of sale or bill of lading from the jurisdiction of origin; and

(d) Were not caught in full compliance with the laws of the jurisdiction of origin;

[Dreampixels]

Ok then what does he do with the 5 shorts per bushel he is allowed if they are not caught by the DNR and tossed back? If he had 10 or 15 bushels he would have near a 1/2 bushel of shorts if there were 5 per bushel.

[captaincrab55]

Ok then what does he do with the 5 shorts per bushel he is allowed if they are not caught by the DNR and tossed back? If he had 10 or 15 bushels he would have near a 1/2 bushel of shorts if there were 5 per bushel.

Years back they were used as an extra crab to the Bakers Dozen....   

[KI Crabber]

Ok then what does he do with the 5 shorts per bushel he is allowed if they are not caught by the DNR and tossed back? If he had 10 or 15 bushels he would have near a 1/2 bushel of shorts if there were 5 per bushel.

I'm sure they would slip them into someones bag and send them down the road.

I'm sure the DNR will check this guy out if you call and file a report. I know they have had no problem busting restaraunts that were serving undersized crabs before.

Years ago I bought a bushel of supposedly #1s from a roadside guy. He told me that they had been out of the water for 2 days. Being suspicious, I asked him to go through them as I didn't want a lot of dead ones. He took the basket behind the door and a curtain. He went through em alright. He pulled all the dead ones out and all the large ones. He didn't put any additional crabs back in the basket. He had the crabs all worked up and the basket was most of the way full. By the time I got home, 20 minutes later, they had settled down and I had just over half bushel of small and medium crabs. Needless to say, I never gave him any more business. You gotta watch everything now days.....

[Dreampixels]

Well the law appears to be an Oxymoron.

 1. States you can not posses, sell or transport and then the other allows for 4 or 5 per basket if you get checked and not be fined.

I am not saying how it should be other then 1 way. If you have 5 shorts per bushel when checked then certainly they where in your possession at that time and you did indeed transport them from the site where they were caught to the place you where checked.

Seems like double talk to me. I do understand being lenient as mistakes are made and I do understand the law is trying to stop the mass selling of shorts. But certainly unless someone were caught selling an abundance of them I think would be you would be hard pressed to hammer a guy for 3 or 4 in a bag of a few dozen.

Now if you had an all you can eat place and the table was filled with shorts, that would be a different story as I would think the intent was well established at that point.

I duno, it appears all to conflicting..........