crabs died

[Felinis]

I have two crabs in a bucket without water for about 1 1/2 hours.  Then I pour some water on them, just enough to keep them wet, not enough to even begin to cover them.  

Then I add a third crab and later land my boat.  

When I go to put my catch on ice, one of the crabs has crapped in the bucket, making a dark liquid out of the clean water.

As I put the crabs on ice, one of them is dead.  I get home about an hour later and they are all three dead.

What killed them?  did they drown in the water, or did the crab [curd] kill them?

[mdjohn]

they were not dead - they were cold

if their mouths are tite - they're alive

let they warm up and they'll bite you

I could tell ya stories about cold crabs

[mrscharms]

I wonder if the same thing happened to me last weekend...caught a dismal 7 or 8 nice jimmies...right before we left the water, I threw a bag of ice on them because it was quite hot...when I got home and was throwing them into the pot..they all seemed to be dead..not a peep out of them..I cooked them anyways because I knew they were just alive an hour ago...and we're all still here..safe and sound!

Janice

[madcrab]

  I toss all my catch into a big container of ice water before I steam them so they get shocked and don't drop their claws when they are steamed.  Definitely look dead....but they ain't!!

[procrabber]

I wonder if the same thing happened to me last weekend...caught a dismal 7 or 8 nice jimmies...right before we left the water, I threw a bag of ice on them because it was quite hot...when I got home and was throwing them into the pot..they all seemed to be dead..not a peep out of them..I cooked them anyways because I knew they were just alive an hour ago...and we're all still here..safe and sound!

Janice

if you put the ice on top of the crabs they will die.  put the ice in first and the crabs on top,  it is the same when you re icing down fish.  something about ice slowly melting onto the crabs does kill them. maybe it is too cold or maybe the fresh water trickling over them,  if you want to get them wet, dunk them in the bay (carefully) for 15 seconds, then keep them cool and damp, but dont have water on them.  please dont drop your crabs dunking them and please dont blame me if you do!   

[Seaweed]

All this talk of ice, dunking, coolers, water, buckets... I don't get it.  Keep them in baskets out of the sun and in the shade and moist. Thats it.  Works even when its 95 degrees.

[Dave Jr.]

Seaweed is right.  They are aren't as delicate as people seem to think.  If you can keep them out of the sun and keep a damp rag over the top of the basekt they will be fine.  Once you pull them from the water, don't put them back in the water unless it's ice water before you steam them.  It will kill them for sure.

[ChrisS]

I have to dis-agree. I keep two live boxes on my top and when I fill up some bushel baskets and the sun starts getting high, I put them in the live wells attached to an anchor at the end of one of my lines with a large float. That seems to do well and I've only lost a few since doing so. Before I was losing worst case...4 dozen by the time I got back to my dock. 

......what may be different for me, is the 30-45 minute run I have at about 25 knots in sometimes rough seas, that may not be good for the crabs and I locate them at the stern of my boat where they will get bounced around less.

[crabbinmofo]

All this talk of ice, dunking, coolers, water, buckets... I don't get it. Keep them in baskets out of the sun and in the shade and moist. Thats it. Works even when its 95 degrees.

I agree with Seaweed...keep them shaded and moist.  I cover my baskets with a damp burlap bag (because there's no shade on my boat) and have no problems.  I soak the bag after each run.

Other things I have noticed:

1. Dipping the baskets back into the water to keep the crabs wet seems to cause a lot of fatalities.  I've heard this is because although the crabs can breathe in water or in air, it stresses them quite a bit switching from one to the other.  Bottom line, once they're out of the water, I leave them out.

2. Whiteys die quicker.  If you have to travel far to get home, many of these will die on the way.

3. Putting the crabs in ice water before steaming allows you to easily arrange them in the steamer and keeps them from pulling each others legs and claws off.  It puts them into a winter-like hibernation.  They do come out of it though and can grab you if you take to long loading the steamer or don't leave them in the ice water long enough.

C-mofo

[mdjohn]

.you said         .....what may be different for me, is the 30-45 minute run I have at about 25 knots in sometimes rough seas, that may not be good for the crabs and I locate them at the stern of my boat where they will get bounced around less. .........

It's been my experience

if ya put a bushel basket of crabs behind the cab of a pick up at 60 - 70 MPH they do fine.

if ya put a bushel basket of crabs at the end of the pick up bed at 60 - 70 MPH where they get the wind, SOME OF THEM WILL DIE

I believe they can't breathe with the 60-70 wind at them, so i try to put something in front of them if they're in the back, seems to work

[crabbinmofo]

if ya put a bushel basket of crabs at the end of the pick up bed at 60 - 70 MPH where they get the wind, SOME OF THEM WILL DIE

I believe they can't breathe with the 60-70 wind at them, so i try to put something in front of them if they're in the back, seems to work

It's not that they can't breathe, it's that the air moving over them dries them out, especially their gills, and they die.

Same thing as a fan blowing air on your skin.  It feels cool because it's evaporating the moisture on your skin.  Also, rapid breathing dries your throat.

C-mofo

[Crabber Joe]

I agree with mofo  the crabs gills must stay moist. they get oxygen from the water, but never keep them in water as they will use up all the oxygen in it and drown, How about being a sport and giving them a little ac on the way home, instead of the hot back of the truck, I drive 217 miles home from the wye and have never lost more than 1 or 2 crabs a bushel in the back of my jimmy

[crabbin bull]

Here's how I bring my crabs back alive. Place crabs in cooler and cover with newspaper,take bag of ice and put into a trash bag so water doesn't get on crabs and leave cooler open just a bit for air. Travel about 165 miles and lose very little crabs. You can also freeze water in bottles and use instead of ice.

[kajuncrabber]

            I live on the gulf coast and down here our major killer of crabs is the hot sun. I fish crabs everyday and usually catch about four to five hundred pounds of blue crabs a day. I have a tent on my boat and keep them as cool as possible. I stay on the water about five hours a day and also drive about thirty minutes at about twenty five miles an hour. When I get to the dock my crabs are almost all alive but maybe a dozen are two.
              If using a chest pull the plug, ( no water ) never put ice directly on the crabs are they will die. Try to lay something on them first like a sack or shirt. You don't even have to bust the bag of ice just lay the bag of ice on that.  Also put them in bushels where air can flow threw are if using a ice chest leave a crack in the lid.
              I personally think heat or the sun is the number one problem down here. I think the crabs Felinis caught should not have been put in a bucket because a bucket holds the heat on a hot day with no way air can pass threw it, and especially DO NOT PUT water in the bucket. I think a container with holes and covered with something damp so they can stay cool would be sufficient. If you need to use a bucket drill some holes in the bucket and it will have adequate air flow and will not hold water.

[Larry_D]

Could someone define "moist" for me on this?   

Do you squirt them with a water pistol or something?  Seems cruel to taunt them in that way when they are already your prisoner!   May be against the Geneva Convention! 

Or by putting a moist towel over the top of the bushel, is that "keeping them moist?" 

[procrabber]

i take white bedsheets and soak them to cover the crabs with.  you can pour water on them but leave the lid on.  make it so the crabs can not move... ie fill the basket and put the lid on

[Larry_D]

i take white bedsheets and soak them to cover the crabs with. 

Hi, do you put the wet bedsheet right on the crabs, right on top of them?  Or over the top of the bushel?

[procrabber]

over the bushel basket.  if the basket is not full, i put it directly on the crabs to keep them from moving

[Crabber Joe]

Hi, do you put the wet bedsheet right on the crabs, right on top of them?  Or over the top of the bushel?

I use the 400 thread count cotton sheets, then I put it under the crabs with 2 pillows and the tv remote   sorry larry I couldn't resist

[Larry_D]

over the bushel basket.  if the basket is not full, i put it directly on the crabs to keep them from moving

Ok, thanks procrabber.  What's wrong with them moving around?

LOL joe!

[kajuncrabber]

              Remember white sheets does reflect the heat also, and CJ that bushel basket is looking pretty comfortable even for me.

[chunk]

I use the 400 thread count cotton sheets, then I put it under the crabs with 2 pillows and the tv remote   sorry larry I couldn't resist

no cotton on my babys!!!!only the finest silk!!!! hehehe

[Tuarus]

 

[Boss Haus]

If I am not sure if a crab is dead, I crab a lively one and hold the ice pick up to its face and threaten it in front of the still one. Works every time, crabs frighten easily.

[Tuarus]

U BULLY!!!!!!!!!