by Henry Evans Jr. for the Cape Gazette
Those who enjoy cracking open a few dozen freshly cooked Delaware blue crabs are in for a treat this year, as blue crab experts expect a bumper crop of the tasty crustaceans.
“Last year we had a good year-class of baby crabs. Typically, there’s a good correlation between year-class strength and the next year’s harvest and even into the subsequent year,” said Rich Wong, a Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife fishery biologist.
Wong said April through October trawl surveys in 2009 indicate this year’s blue crab harvest should be good. He said although the crab survey was robust, it wasn’t the best year on record, but it was above average.
“Crabbing should be pretty decent between August and September, which are peak months for crab pot harvests,” he said. Wong said commercial crab dredgers should also see a good harvest, beginning in December and running through March 2011.
In Delaware, commercial crabbing is permitted only in the Delaware Bay. Wong said on average, commercial crabbers catch and dredge about 20 million individual blue crabs from the bay annually, and recreational crabbers harvest about 2 million crabs a year. Commercial crab harvest counts are split between the Delaware and New Jersey sides of the bay. “It’s about 7 million pounds a year if you combine harvests. It’s pretty much even,” he said.
Wong estimates the blue crab market is worth about $10 million a year in both states combined. Wong said commercially caught Delaware Bay crabs are sold within the state to crab and seafood dealers. The dealers sell the crabs or ship them to seafood retailers or other distributors, with some crabs perhaps going directly to Philadelphia and New York markets.
“We know for sure that significant numbers are sold directly, out-of-state, to Maryland dealers,” he said. Wong said some of those crabs are probably sold as Chesapeake crabs in Maryland. “Our understanding is that most Delaware restaurants we’ve talked to do not buy local crabs for various reasons unknown to us,” he said.
Delaware or Chesapeake?
Kay Copp of Copp’s Seafood near Lewes said Delaware Bay crabs they sell are as good as those from the Chesapeake. “Delaware crabs are very good. If you put them together with Maryland crabs you can’t tell the difference,” she said. Copp and Wong both said they know of no crab-picking houses in Delaware. Copp is selling a bushel of medium to large male crabs for $160, and a bushel of number ones for $190.
Read full story -> CapeGazette.com – Delaware Bay blue crab harvest to be abundant in 2010