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March 23, 2006 - Satisfying a craving for crab�urfo �i :rh 23. 2006 ;;u{lolk Tunas phaos 6y B a i t�= S:owanou at Above: The blue crab Is found all along the eastern seaboard. The greatest concentration Is found In the Chesapeake Bay area. Right: We can tell this undersized blue crab Is a female by her wide apron, which has just started to open and will grow as the eggs ripen, exposing the hundreds of eggs she will carry until they are mature and conditions are just right for spawning. a crav Satisfying ing for crab WHii.s iN FYDwDA, we were intro- duped to the stone crab by an invita- tion from our son, who knew of a place that specializes in these choice delica- cies Of course we wanted to give them a try; after all, we were well acquainted with lobsters and blue crabs, and if they tasted anywhere as good, we couldn't go wrong Walking to the Crab House, we passed over a small bridge that let us know how hard the wind was blow- ing, so much so that there were only a few gulls riding the thermals — the rest of the birds had found shelter behind some thick clumps of Focus grass. Evidently ON they had worked the strong wind NATURE earlier in the day and were now by Paul resting. I scanned Stoutenburgh the area with my binoculars for something of in- terest and found a nice group of 40 or 50 black skimmers huddled down out ofthe wind. Black skimmers once were common in our bays We'd often see them flying low over a calm stretch of water, their specially designed scissor-like red bill gracefully cutting a pathway through the water. It was there they hoped to pick up some unsuspecting small fish. They once nested on both Robins and Gardiners islands and the spoil islands in Moriches Bay. I say once, for each year some still try nesting, but the nest- ing gulls usually drive them out. Some 50 years ago, four of us took my old Grumman canoe with an overnight supply of food and drink for a stay on one of the spot? islands in Moriches Bay. ( "Spoil" refers to dredge material that's deposited in the bay. These sand islands create ideal nesting sites for terns, gulls and black skimmers) It was a dreamy overnight stay, birds were all around us, calling continually and battling any intruder that got too close to their sandy nests All through the night the calls of terns, gulls and the barking call of the black skimmers could be heard. We were lit- erally lulled to sleep by their continual chatter. Back to our walk to the Crab House, Stone crabs have gained popularity as a delicacy and are often found on the seafood menu. The only part of a stone crab you eat Is the big claw. It's legal to break off a claw and throw the crab back In the water, where It will regener- ate a new claw. This stone crab was caught In our blue crab trap. It was good to see that number of black is used for eatin& skimmers resting there, waiting for the The female stone crab, like other wind to die down. After many twists crabs, carries her precious eggs under and turns through aresidential area, we her "apron. "There they will stay until came out to an opening on a small bay the temperature and salinity of the and there at the water's edge was the water are just right. Then the ripe eggs famous Stone Crab House. This was to spawn into the open sea.The frec- be our introduction to this famous crab. swimming larvae go through six stages The claws are the only edible part of growth that takes about 36 days It's of the stone crab. There are strict laws then that the larvae finally take the that regulate the size and number of shape of j uvenile stone crabs claws you can take. It's important how The average number of eggs a you break the claws of£ Professional female produces is anywhere from crabbers know the trick and easily 500,000 to a million. With that great snap off the legal claw and throw the number of eggs in each crab, one crab back in the water, knowing that would think there would be stone in about a year it will grow a new claw crabs everywhere, but, no, their num- big enough to be harvested. bers are whittled down by a wide va- To understand this unbelievable re- riety of predators In the larval stage generation, let's start at the beginning they are captured by the plankton Like all crabs, be it the big and power- eaters, and then later the juveniles ful lobster or the little scurrying fiddler are eaten by horseshoe crabs, conchs, crab, stone crabs have to shed that groupers, sea turtles, eta Enough of all hard outer shell to grow. They literally that Let's get to eating some of these slip out of their shell, as helpless as a gourmet delicacies baby and as soft as your skin. Well place our order for one of each It's during this period of softness size claw: medium, large and jumbo. that the male protects the female from There are enough of these stone crabs predators, and for that service he is al- caught to spawn a fairly active shellfish lowed to mate with the "softie." It all industry and we've just done our part depends on how long it takes for her in supporting the industry by order - shell to harden. ing our first stone crab claws It wasn't Stone crabs are powerful foragers, long before our order came, "bright enjoying small oysters, mussels and red, cooked and all cracked" (E1 extra). other crustaceans that they can crush Mmmm. Needless to say, well look with their big "crusher" claw. The forward to satisfying our craving for smaller claw is called the "pincer" and seafood by ordering stone crabs the next time we see them on the menu. Actually, the common blue crab, the same species we have in our bays and creeks, outranks the stone crab in its abundance in Florida and some say it tastes better, as well. We could vouch for the blue claw abundance, for the little blue crabs are always stealing our bait when we go fishing out on the pier. We never seem to get the quantity of these small blue crabs in our creeks as they do down here in Florida. Blue crabs are found all along the Atlantic Coast, with the Chesapeake Bay being the biggest producer. The life history of the blue crab par- allels the stone crab in many ways. Like stone crabs, blue crabs start out as lar- vae that don't look anything like blue crabs. And like the stone crab, the blue crab has to go through several stages of molt, when the crab leaves its hard shell so it can grow. It's during these early stages of life that the larvae are eaten by a multitude of plankton feeders. As the larvae develop and grow larger, bigger fish, such as sea trout, red drum, black drum and sheepshead, and even other crabs prey on them here in Flori- da. It's a world of "eat or be eaten." As with stone crabs, because of the hard shell of adult blue crabs mat- ing must take place directly after the female molt while she is still soft-'lire male cradles her and only releases her when her soft shell becomes hard and she is not vulnerable to predators any longer. The egg that are produced by the female are carried, as in the stone crab, under her apron until the temper- ature and salinity are just right.Then the larvae are dispersed into the sea and the cycle starts all over again. When we're in Florida we use a crab trap to catch the blue crabs We use chicken necks as bait and we do fairly well, provided we have the patience to wait. But it's well worth it. One time we even caught a stone crab. What rm going to say might bring the rafters down on me, but I feel the blue crabs of Florida are sweeter than the blue crabs found in our bays and creeks No, I'm not a traitor; rm a real- ist, and the blue crabs are REALLY sweeter down here. P.S. Pail Horton saw an osprey at its nest on Indian Neck on Wednesday morning, March 15. Welcome back! The Suffolk Times •March 23, 2006 a tio sfy In a craving or crab " � � j/1IN�tlli��yv N� lN✓ ��r��dkl � ����A .olm � '�� µ Suffolk Times photos by Barbara Stoutenburgh Above: The blue crab is found all along the eastern seaboard. The greatest concentration is found in the Chesapeake Bay area. Right: We can tell this undersized blue crab is a female by her wide apron, which has just started to open and will grow as the eggs ripen, exposing the hundreds of eggs she will carry until they are mature and conditions are just right for spawning. WHILE IN FLORIDA, we were intro- duced to the stone crab by an invita- tion from our son, who knew of a place that specializes in these choice delica- cies. Of course we wanted to give them a try; after all, we were well acquainted with lobsters and blue crabs, and if they tasted anywhere as good, we couldn't go wrong. Walking to the Crab House, we passed over a small bridge that let us know how hard the wind was blow- ing, so much so that there were only a few gulls riding the thermals — the rest of the birds had found shelter behind some thick clumps of Focus grass. Evidently ON they had worked the strong wind NATURE earlier in the day and were now by Paul resting. I scanned Stoutenburgh the area with my binoculars for something of in- terest and found a nice group of 40 or 50 black skimmers huddled down out of the wind. Black skimmers once were common in our bays. We'd often see them flying low over a cahn stretch of water, their specially designed scissor -like red bill gracefully cutting a pathway through the water. It was there they hoped to pick up some unsuspecting small fish. They once nested on both Robins and Gardiners islands and the spoil islands in Moriches Bay. I say once, for each year some still try nesting, but the nest - ing gulls usually drive them out. Some 50 years ago, four of us took my old Grumman canoe with an overnight supply of food and drink for a stay on one of the spoil islands in Moriches Bay. ( "Spoil" refers to dredge material that's deposited in the bay. These sand islands create ideal nesting sites for terns, gulls and black skimmers.) It was a dreamy overnight stay, birds were all around us, calling continually and battling any intruder that Trot too close to their sandv nests. Stone crabs have gained popularity as a delicacy and are often found on the seafood menu. The only part of a stone crab you eat is the big claw. It's legal to break off a claw and throw the crab back in the water, where it will regener- ate a new claw. This stone crab was caught in our blue crab trap. All through the night the calls of terns, gulls and the barking call of the black skimmers could be heard. We were lit- erally lulled to sleep by their continual chatter. Back to our walk to the Crab House. It was good to see that number of black skimmers resting there, waiting for the wind to die down. After many twists and turns through a residential area, we came out to an opening on a small bay and there at the water's edge was the famous Stone Crab House. This was to be our introduction to this famous crab. The claws are the only edible part of the stone crab. There are strict laws that regulate the size and number of claws you can take. It's important how you break the claws off. Professional crabbers know the trick and easily snap off the legal claw and throw the crab back in the water, knowing that in about a year it will grow a new claw big enough to be harvested. To understand this unbelievable re- generation, let's start at the beginning. Like all crabs, be it the big and power- ful lobster or the little scurrying fiddler crab, stone crabs have to shed that hard outer shell to grow. They literally slip out of their shell, as helpless as a baby and as soft as your skin. It's during this period of softness that the male protects the female from predators, and for that service he is al- lowed to mate with the "softie." It all depends on how long it takes for her shell to harden. Stone crabs are powerful foragers, enjoying small oysters, mussels and other crustaceans that they can crush with their big "crusher" claw. The smaller claw is called the "pincer" and The female stone crab, like other crabs, carries her precious eggs under her "apron" There they will stay until the temperature and salinity of the water are just right. Then the ripe eggs spawn into the open sea. The free - swimming larvae go through six stages of growth that takes about 36 days. It's then that the larvae finally take the shape of juvenile stone crabs. The average number of eggs a female produces is anywhere from 500,000 to a million. With that great number of eggs in each crab, one would think there would be stone crabs everywhere, but, no, their num- bers are whittled down by a wide va- riety of predators. In the larval stage they are captured by the plankton eaters, and then later the juveniles are eaten by horseshoe crabs, conchs, groupers, sea turtles, etc. Enough of all that. Let's get to eating some of these gourmet delicacies. We'll place our order for one of each size claw: medium, large and jumbo. There are enough of these stone crabs caught to spawn a fairly active shellfish industry and we've just done our part in supporting the industry by order- ing our first stone crab claws. It wasn't long before our order came, "bright red, cooked and all cracked" ($1 extra). Mmmm. Needless to say, we'll look forward to satisfying our craving for seafood by ordering stone crabs the next tune we see them on flie nu. m Actually, the common blue crab, the same species we have in our bays and creeks, outranks the stone crab in its abundance in Florida and some say it tastes better, as well. We could vouch for the blue claw abundance, for the little blue crabs are always stealing our bait when we go fishing out on the pier. We never seem to get the quantity of these small blue crabs in our creeks as they do down here in Florida. Blue crabs are found all along the Atlantic Coast, with the Chesapeake Bay being the biggest producer. The life history of the blue crab par- allels the stone crab in many ways. Like stone crabs, blue crabs start out as lar- vae that don't look anything like blue crabs. And like the stone crab, the blue crab has to go through several stages of molt, when the crab leaves its hard shell so it can grow. It's during these early stages of life that the larvae are eaten by a multitude of plankton feeders. As the larvae develop and grow larger, bigger fish, such as sea trout, red drum, black drum and sheepshead, and even other crabs prey on them here in Flori- da. It's a world of "eat or be eaten." As with stone crabs, because of the hard shell of adult blue crabs mat- ing must take place directly after the female molt while she is still soft. The male cradles her and only releases her when her soft shell becomes hard and she is not vulnerable to predators any longer. The eggs that are produced by the female are carried, as in the stone crab, under her apron until the temper- ature and salinity are just right. Then the larvae are dispersed into the sea and the cycle starts all over again. When we're in Florida we use a crab trap to catch the blue crabs. We use chicken necks as bait and we do fairly well, provided we have the patience to wait. But it's well worth it. One time we even caught a stone crab. What I'm going to say might bring the rafters down on me, but I feel the blue crabs of Florida are sweeter than the blue crabs found in our bays and creeks. No, I'm not a traitor; I'm a real- ist, and the blue crabs are REALLY sweeter down here. P.S. Phil Horton saw an osprey at its nest on Indian Neck on Wednesday morning, March 15. Welcome back!