FLORIDA CRABS

[crabdoc]

Ever wonder why crabs and crabbing are not an industry in Florida? Well, they just can not compare in any way with Maryland crabs!
They do not know how to season and cook them. Usually some sort of garlic seasoning! ( they put Old Bay on their hamburgers and french fries!)

They do not know how to pick them.

You will never ever see a large and heavy Wye River "mumbo" crab.

The few times I have ever seen anyone crabbing, they were walking along the shallows along the shoreline scooping them up with nets. I have never seen anyone crabbing with a trot line, crab traps, or handlines.

At the rare crab house, they hold them in concrete tanks with running water.

The crabs are usually taken from inland creeks in brown, brackish water and they have an off-taste, probably from the tannins in the water from the mango swamps. They will never give you a straight answer as to where they were actually caught.

The last time I bought live crabs in Florida, it was from a dirty and dingy crab house on US-1. The unshaven sales person reeked of alcohol. As he was picking them out with his bare hands, one of the crabs clamped down on his finger, He shook it off and wrapped a dirty towel around his hand. When I got them home and layed everything out to cook them, I opened the box and guess what I found? You guessed it, a bloody rag on top of the crabs! Haven't they ever heard of Hepatitis B, for Lord's sake! Often deadly! Nedless to say, I notified the Department of Health in Tallahassee and demanded an investigation and a full report. Fat chance of any action!

I must admit, however, that they do have good shrimp in the waters of Florida. In the Intracoastal Waterway, the Gulf and along the Atlantic ocean. Recreational shrimpers may take a 5 gallon container of shrimp. They are caught in seines at night, while attracting them with searchlights.
You will see many commercial shrimp boats at night along the Atlantic with their powerful searchlights off the front of the boat as the slowly move along. Look for them from your airliner while preparing for landing.

If you are ever in Florida when the Royal Red (or Ruby Red) shrimp are in the markets, you are in for a real treat. They are caught up near Jacksonville at certain times of the year and they taste just like lobster, only more tender and tasty. They say the best shrimp are from Central America. Ecuador, perhaps.

Take time to appreciate, enjoy and protect the wonderful bounty of the Chesapeake Bay. There is no other place like it in the world!

[tattoo]

THANKS for the info and WELCOME aboard. In fact I a heading to FLA. tomorrow. I'll be near ORLANDO and PACE.

[Black Irish]

Welcome to the board Dr. Bill. You sound like you got the blues for some good blues...

[CSKIFF517]

I moved up from Sunny FL.  Your right.  Not too many people bother with the blue crabs.  The only crabs I ever caught were stone crabs and spider crabs.  Also had other delicious crustaceans to catch like shrimp and lobsters.  Man do I miss lobster sportsmans weekend. I think crabs taste better though.  Ill take a maryland crab cake over a florida lobster tail any day.  But thats just me.   

[Islander]

Take time to appreciate, enjoy and protect the wonderful bounty of the Chesapeake Bay. There is no other place like it in the world!

Hopefully, with the help of this board, people will realize how rare the Chesapeake Bay is and

be more aware of the impact they have on it.   

[crabdoc]

Thanks for the WELCOME ABOARD, tattoo.
See what you can do about transplanting some of those tasty Florida stone crabs to the Chesapeake for the winter season!

[ChiefCrab]

How funny this is! I run a crab house in Florida and the suppliers I use ship over 4000 lbs. of crabs everyday to Maryland crab houses. I have to ship mine in from N.O. because the local suppliers are committed to Md. crabhouses since they pay higher prices. The independent guys around here are unreliable and only seem to go crabbing when they need rent money.

I've been in this business for 12 years and I can assure you any crabhouse in MD. open year round are getting their crabs from Florida/Georgia or the gulf coast and not the Chesapeake.

[captaincrab55]

ChiefCrab,    That's a known fact in MD.      They also have a closed season durning the winter months, but thanks for the info.

[Joe Crabs]

That's why we catch our own.

[R D]

We got to make sure that y'all get some good crabs to eat up there that don't taste like run off from PA and NY. Just doing our part to help 

[Gregacy]

If it makes you feel any batter I went out yesterday and caught tonights dinner.... in good ole' Fort Pierce, Florida.

[DocSmith]

Aw, yeah... These Florida crabs are awful (munch, munch, munch)  Taste horrible (slurp) Let's see, I catch mine (crunch, slurp) or $1.99 a pound you pick 'em (crack, slurp), fresh Jumbo lump is $12.00 a pound (munch, munch),$15.00 a doz steamed in a restaurant (slurp) - if you can find 'em 'cause we ship thousands of pounds of them up north to the yankees (they think they're eating Chesapeake crabs).  Let's see, only 12 more months of crabbing down here - darn!

Munch, munch, munch,
Doc

[kingcrabber]

Aw, yeah... These Florida crabs are awful (munch, munch, munch)  Taste horrible (slurp) Let's see, I catch mine (crunch, slurp) or $1.99 a pound you pick 'em (crack, slurp), fresh Jumbo lump is $12.00 a pound (munch, munch),$15.00 a doz steamed in a restaurant (slurp) - if you can find 'em 'cause we ship thousands of pounds of them up north to the yankees (they think they're eating Chesapeake crabs).  Let's see, only 12 more months of crabbing down here - darn!

Munch, munch, munch,
Doc

check Da Pinhead list....them last statements aint a bit funny  ..and you made da list...

[DocSmith]

KC -

Just as long as I don't make your short list, I'm OK!

Doc

[Gregacy]

I'm on every sheeot list so don't feel bad Doc.

Munch munch munch.. More indian river crabs please! I'll take those St. Johns river crabs too.

[Ray R.]

Gee !  These "Tampa Bay" crabs are good too ! Munch munch munch 

[R D]

Munch Munch Munch these big bend crabs coming out of the most pristine and unpolluted waters we have are pretty good too Munch Munch Munch Now if i didn't have to duck hunt so much in the winter i could crab more 

[ChiefCrab]

It's amazing to me how many people in Maryland (I used to live there myself) who think the crabs they are loving to eat come from the Chesapeake. Even when I lived there in the mid 80's I knew they were coming from the south, because I asked the owners.

Crab houses up there are now selling #1  jumbos for $80 per dozen because they can get it. I wish I could get that for my crabs...........retirement would be close at hand.

Regards,
Chiefcrab

[DocSmith]

(Burp - pass me another $8.00 dozen, will ya?) Where are you located, ChiefCrab? (Yeah, these are lousy Florida crabs - boy, I wish I was eating those Delaware river crabs... 89 octane!)

You know, you can always tell if you are eating Florida crabs, you just turn one over and look real close at the wide part of the apron... if it says "Hecho en Florido" in small print, then you're eating a Florida crab - otherwise it's from the Chesapeake- trust me!  I know - KC told me so!

Doc

[captaincrab55]

It's amazing to me how many people in Maryland (I used to live there myself) who think the crabs they are loving to eat come from the Chesapeake. Even when I lived there in the mid 80's I knew they were coming from the south, because I asked the owners.

Crab houses up there are now selling #1  jumbos for $80 per dozen because they can get it. I wish I could get that for my crabs...........retirement would be close at hand.

Regards,
Chiefcrab

ChiefCrab,    You keep saying how many people from MD don't know that the crabs are shipped in....     Were you aware that they were shipped to MD when You lived here before the Mid eighties?      For over 30 years many Crab Houses have advertised Out of State crabs.     The Sun Paper and TV Stations often run stories about crabs and crabmeat being shipped to MD.....     It's a well known fact that crabmeat gets shipped from the other side of the world..

[Gregacy]

All this talk of Maryland crabs makes me want to go catch some in the Indian river lagoon.

[ChiefCrab]

Look at the original post, he says "Florida crabs can't compare to Md. crabs, there is no crabbing industry in Florida., etc."

I get a lot of customers in my place from Md. who like to tell me how they sure miss those Chesapeake crabs from the crab houses up there. I just smile and nod! They come into my place and say (paraphrasing here) "Well I'm from Md. and I know crabs, so I'll tell you how well you do crabs after I've eaten some." Gee, I didn't know a thing about crabs because I live in Florida but I did spend years up there crabbing the creeks I just wish I had some of that knowledge only bestowed upon Eastern Shore residents. I even get customers who tell me "People from the western shore think they know crabs but they don't."

I had a customer last Saturday night at a table of 12 people who claimed to the group that "these crabs aren't Louisiana crabs because their claws are different!" I felt like showing the Know-It-All the airbill from Southwest airlines of the 300 lbs. I shipped in that afternoon from New Orleans. What, did they move New Orleans out of Louisiana and didn't tell me?

Regards,
ChiefCrab

[DocSmith]

ChiefCrab -

Where is your restaurant?  You can e-mail me off-line if you want.

Doc

[Ray R.]

Gee !  Wow !!  Just finished eating a few of todays catch.  ( FLORIDA CRABS ) or were they MD crabs on a "Florida vacation" ... at Hernando Beach. 

All I can say is they were heavy and good. Munch Munch Munch

[crabologist]

Now that is a beautiful thing ................. Hot Steamed Crabs and Cold Bud Light ................ My favorite combination !!