This should answer everyones question about keeping Female crabs.

[Luna Sea 3]

I did some research.. This makes a little more sense.. Wanna keep females, do not do it in the summer, but if you must, do it in the late fall before the winter is more likely  kills them...this is for colder climates where the odds of her dying during the winter are much greater.

If you are in warmer regions, she will have an opportunity to lay her second set of egg with less chance of dying through the winter, hence, should not be kept..   here is the read.



In the late spring and early summer, after a she-crab sheds, she's mated while soft (Doubles) and turns into a sook. During the summer, you should leave females alone because they are developing their eggs and fertilizing them with sperm held in their body from the male. When the eggs mature, we see them as sponge in the apron area. The sook leaves the brackish bay because the egg needs a higher salinity in order for the egg to develop further after being castoff.

In the fall the sooks return to the bay and bed down for the winter in the channels and lower depressions of the bay usually in a muddy, softer bottom. In the northeast, many die right there from the cold water. As a winter crabber, I find the strong ,cold north winds blowing over a bay without ice are especially deadly for crabs. The ice actually protects the crabs by not allowing the super cooled surface water from swirling down to the bottom through wave action. Many times in the Great South Bay, we find after a hard northwest wind and cold temperatures the bottom is frozen like 4" asphalt and so are the crabs in it.

My observation, after 40 years of dredging winter crabs, most sooks will die that winter at a year and a half, some will make it to the spring at two years old and then die. Most males seem to go into the ocean or find a spot to survive the winter and live until 3-4 years old.

So is the sook useless, no. She should be harvested in late fall in cold regions upon her return to the bay or left for me to dredge up in the winter because she will be carrying a secondary roe which will never be cast.  Keeping them during the summer months means you are taking and killing them before they get a chance to lay their eggs. 

[shedking]

Never saw a reply to the poaching allegation on the other thread. Is it ok as long as its only male crabs that you illegally take???

[Luna Sea 3]

Never saw a reply to the poaching allegation on the other thread. Is it ok as long as its only male crabs that you illegally take???

what other post?   I never saw it.

[Wallco99]

[shedking]

This one right here

   
   
Re: Upper Delaware Bay. Female central
« Reply #57 on: October 14, 2016, 07:50:57 PM »
Quote from: Luna Sea 3 on October 11, 2016, 10:02:35 AM
listen Ron.  Obviously you are a crab whore and don't care about the future of recreational crabbers?  If you do your part and everyone does there part and simply throw back the females, it will guarantee us that the crabbing industry will be productive when I am old and gray and my grandchildren will eventually know what crabbing is.  There are plenty of Jimmies to go around.

You have a lot of balls calling anyone a "whore" you a55hole.

And you're a hypocrite on top of that... you've been spotted many times on the bay running your pots WITHOUT your brother, uncle, cousin, or flunky. And it's MORE THAN TWO!! 

Do you think no one knows what you're up to??  Your boat is easy to spot, you moron!!  And I don't even need to pick up the glasses with that stupid decal down the side.

You harp on "being proactive" to guys who may make 6 to 8 trips a season at the most... all the while you're out there breaking the law pulling pots on relative's rec license several days a week.

Coming on here and preaching is bad enough, especially when your a dimwit and have no idea what your talking about.  And I could care less what you think you gleamed from your grandpa. However insulting members is over the line.

Like the man said... time for you to shut you mouth and crawl back under your rock.  Or back over to that pisspoor fishing website that you run that nobody visits anyway. 

[shedking]

Guess not.  but don't dare keep any female crabs. Someone called me out like that I'd be all over defending myself. Unless I was guilty as charged. 

[Luna Sea 3]

Guess not.  but don't dare keep any female crabs. Someone called me out like that I'd be all over defending myself. Unless I was guilty as charged. 

I never keep females.;. Law or no law.. im just using my common sense.. as well as old school in put..  Hey.. it even goes with fishing.  Why should anyone keep their legal bag limit if you aren't going to eat it all. 
Catch what you need for that day, preserve the species.
What isn't a law now will become a law later if it is abused

[Crabbyd]

I never keep females.;. Law or no law.. im just using my common sense.. as well as old school in put..  Hey.. it even goes with fishing.  Why should anyone keep their legal bag limit if you aren't going to eat it all. 
Catch what you need for that day, preserve the species.
What isn't a law now will become a law later if it is abused

I guess the native Americans and colonist had no common sense..... along with all of the old-timers for the past 250 years

[Grizzly36]

I guess the native Americans and colonist had no common sense..... along with all of the old-timers for the past 250 years

Nope they sure didn't that's why there's only millions and not billions left.  Indians and the first settlers just didn't care about the resource and future generations.

Don't forget the cavemen too.  They killed so many dinosaurs now only rich people can hunt them.

[U / W HUNTER]

I guess we're not going to get an answer on the poaching question, he side stepped that one pretty quickly

[Wallco99]

Like Hillary with the "open borders" question.

[U / W HUNTER]

I was going to go in that direction, but I decided to keep it political free  

[Luna Sea 3]

I guess we're not going to get an answer on the poaching question, he side stepped that one pretty quickly

what question do u want an answer for?

[Grizzly36]

what question do u want an answer for?

I think he's referring to the one about you running pots of family members while there not on your boat. It was brought up in a topic several days ago and asked about again in this one.

[Luna Sea 3]

I think he's referring to the one about you running pots of family members while there not on your boat. It was brought up in a topic several days ago and asked about again in this one.

I run 2 pots per licence.. with is allowed.. I have a family shore house that I share with my brother.  With this said, when I am by myself, I run 2 pots, when my brother is there 4.  I always have the proper number of people with there licence on the boat with me when I soak and lift my pots.  

Any for those to claim I don't, you are sadly mistaken.  This year especially, Ive never ran more then 2 pots, even when I have my bother and other company down..