The Hudson River: 2012 Crabbing Season

[rocklandAl]

9/23...went crabbing from 7-10pm on an outgoing tide at bear mountain...used assorted fish as bait, although i need to catch fresh bait.....i caught none this evening in the traps, however, along the pier supports, i caught 8 small keeper sized crabs, with 6 of them being softshell.....every day ive gone, they have gotten smaller since i went the first week of september....and i dont know why most of them were softshell, i guess they come out at night? or maybe its the time of year, as the weather now is similiar to that of weather in may? any input on the fact i got more softshells? Tomorrow, im going to catch fresh bait, and try a little further south than bear mountain sometime this week.....

[pyboat]

9/22/12 Piermont, NY Only 2 large crabs in 6 hours on incoming tide. 8 box nets. Water temp 71 deg.

[pyboat]

10/5/12 Piermont, NY 35 large Jimmies. Bottle crabbing with 15 box nets using white perch. Water temp 70 deg.

[ourtwobeans]

Wow  October 5 and still getting them  Nice....Anybody get any since that last post?  HAs anybody even tried this late into October?

[Larry_D]

My son and I used to go crabbing on the Hudson, for about eight years, from about 2004 until 2011.  Crabbed off the waterfront in the lower Hudson, from around Dobbys Ferry up to Irvington.  We noticed that after about 2008 the population really began to decrease.  We gave up last year after crabbing 5 hours or so with six traps and getting one crab.

Before that we were likely to come home with 10-28 crabs.

I hope it's ok to post this at the end of this thread, even though it's not a report.  Any theories as to why the decrease?  I know that the Chesapeake population is decreasing but demand stays the same, and so the Chesapeake crab shacks are a more lucrative market for Hudson River commercial crabbers.  (I wonder if those tourists eating crab at the Maryland shacks know where some of those crabs came from!   ) Does this increased crabbing account for the drop in population on the Hudson?  

[flounderpounder]

doubt NY crabs are coming south when NC and MD crabs are being shipped north everyday....lol

[Willowemoc]

for the past 20 years or so now Maryland has been getting hudson river crabs shipped and selling them to tourists as MD crabs.

[Ronster]

Find that hard to believe.   

[fishingtom]

X 5 

[flounderpounder]

who the [Sam Hill] would eat those nasty [arse] crabs?

[BirdsNestKing]

who the [Sam Hill] would eat those nasty [arse] crabs?

So you're saying every piece of seafood you've ever eaten has been exactly what it was advertised to be?  

[BirdsNestKing]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/fake-fish-experts-mislabeling-seafood-real-problem/story?id=13706266

http://pvsfish.org/blog/tag/seafood-mislabeling/

http://www.boston.com/business/specials/fish_testing/

[BirdsNestKing]

State seeking certification to help with blue crab sales

http://thedailyrecord.com/2012/03/27/state-seeking-certification-to-help-with-blue-crab-sales/

[flounderpounder]

So you're saying every piece of seafood you've ever eaten has been exactly what it was advertised to be?  

yes...thats EXACTLY what I am saying 

[BirdsNestKing]

 

[flounderpounder]

sorry you can't catch your own up there I guess 

[BirdsNestKing]

Catch all my own and then some.

[flounderpounder]

Catch all my own and then some.

well you seem like is such a hard thing to do and everyone in the world is eating Hudson river crabs....lmao

[BirdsNestKing]

well you seem like is such a hard thing to do and everyone in the world is eating Hudson river crabs....lmao

Nope saying anything you don't catch yourself is suspect. 

Read the articles a real  .

[BirdsNestKing]

Nope saying anything you don't catch yourself is suspect. 

Which reminds me to get a straight answer about which supermarkets lost power.........and then possiblely taking a walk down the block to catch dinner.

[flounderpounder]

I dont buy fish or crabs so Im good...no need to read.

[BirdsNestKing]

Which reminds me to get a straight answer about which supermarkets lost power.........and then possiblely taking a walk down the block to catch dinner.

Just not sure I want see all the busted up boats again.  

[BirdsNestKing]

I dont buy fish or crabs so Im good...no need to read.

Same here. Already have my mother busting my chops about when I'm gonna go get her some cod. 

[crabbywaters]

I ate my last crab of the year on Monday . The rest of the winter its frozen crab meat from Maryland. I know its from Maryland because i caught them in Maryland (Chester, Wye, and severn river). I never buy crabs...ever. Sorry capt Ron. Your MD crabs do look nice

[Larry_D]

who the [Sam Hill] would eat those nasty [arse] crabs?

Probably the same people who eat Chesapeake crabs -- the Susquehanna, which is the largest tributary of the Chesapeake, is actually more polluted than the Hudson.