Blue Crab Frequently Asked Questions (original) (raw)

Here you will find a list of cooking-related frequently asked questions regarding the blue crab.
If you have a question, please send it to me and I'll research it and post the results here.

Q: I have some live blue crabs and need to transport them a long distance (or store them alive). What's the best method to ensure they stay alive?

A: Crabs can live for several days out of water as long as they are healthy and are kept cool, moist, and stress-free. The optimal temperature is about 50� F., anything colder will ultimately kill them.

Transporting - A cooler filled with a layer of ice (or several gel packs) on the bottom is probably the best method to transport live crabs. If using ice, be sure to fasten a shelf to keep the crabs out of the melted ice water. If the crabs get into this water they'll quickly deplete the water's oxygen and will suffocate (for this same reason, never keep live crabs in a bucket of standing water.)

Alternatively, you can transport the crabs in a wooden bushel basket, covered with a damp burlap sack, and out of direct sunlight. While not optimal, this method is more practical for commercial watermen who utilize bushel baskets during the short period of time between catching and delivering their crabs to market.

Storing Live - The best method for storing blue crabs involves the use of a live box placed in the water. A live box can be as elaborate as a specially designed wooden box or as simple as a 5-gallon bucket with large holes drilled throughout. It can be anything that keeps the crabs caged in the water. Crabs placed in a live box can easily live for several days, weeks, or longer, provided that you feed them.

Note: Before preparing chilled crabs, allow them to warm to room temperature. Cold crabs will be in a dormant state and will be slow and lethargic, or may appear dead. Once they return to room temperature they should become feisty. Don't ever cook dead crabs!

Note - I've heard many stories about crabbers who've found an "escapee" crab in their boat weeks after the crab was caught! The boat is always parked in a shady area and there is no standing water onboard. The crab probably kept is gills moist by hiding under a seat out of the sun, perhaps replenishing the moisture by utilizing the morning dew. What this proves is that a healthy, stress-free, crab can survive for many days (or weeks) out of water under the right circumstances. Crabs piled on top of each another in a bushel basket, unable to move, is not a stress-free environment!

Q: What is the yellow stuff inside a cooked crab? Some people call it "mustard." Is it fat?

A: Contrary to popular belief, the "mustard" (or the "green gland" or "tomalley") is not fat, it's actually the crab's hepatopancreas, a main component of the crab's digestive system.

The hepatopancreas is a gland made up of very small branched tubes (ramified tubules) located on both sides of the mid-gut in the main body cavity directly under the top shell and functions as both liver and pancreas. It is involved in producing digestive enzymes and is responsible for filtering impurities from the crab's blood.

The "mustard" has a strong taste and is eaten by many people who consider it a delicacy.

Caution: Research shows that chemical contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxin, mercury, and poison-inhalation hazards (PIHs) accumulate in the crab's fatty tissues and concentrate in the hepatopancreas. The contaminants, which are colorless, odorless and tasteless, and can increase one's chance of developing cancer, neurological impairments and miscarriage. Women of child-bearing age and children under the age of 5 are at particular risk.

Crabs caught in advisory areas may contain high levels of these contaminants. If you catch crabs in these areas, it is highly recommended that you eat no more than six blue crabs per week and do not consume the "mustard" or cooking liquid.

Eating, selling or harvesting blue crabs from the Newark Bay Complex (Newark Bay, Hackensack River, Passaic River, Arthur Kill and Kill Van Kull, and all tributaries to these waterbodies) is prohibited!

In Maryland, blue crabs were sampled in several areas back in 1994-95, including the Chester, Bush and Gunpowder Rivers, Baltimore Harbor, Colgate Creek, Ft. Armistead, Old Road Bay, and Curtis Bay, and the Patapsco River. With the exception of the Middle and Northwest Branches of the Patapsco River, blue crabs were found to be generally low in contaminants. However, "generally low" is not the same as zero. When it comes to your health, it is strongly recommend that you avoid the "mustard".