The Crab Industry of Maryland
From the Appendix to the Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the year ending June 30, 1904.
MARYLAND furnishes by far a larger supply of crabs than any State in the Union, and it is not improbable that its people were the first to discover the edible qualities of this crustacean and its value as a market product. The only species taken in the commercial fisheries of the State is the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), which is caught and marketed in both the hard-shell and the soft-shell condition. The fishery for soft crabs, however, is much more extensive than that for hard crabs.
The Soft Crab Industry.
The greatest crab shipping point in the United States is Crisfield, Md., situated near the extreme lower end of Somerset county on the Little Annamessex River, a tributary of Tangier Sound. Soft crabs are taken with three forms of apparatus -- scrapes, scoop nets and small seines. A few also are taken incidentally on trot lines, together with hard crabs. The catch by seines is insignificant compared with that by scrapes and scoop nets.
The scrapes used for crabbing are similar to the oyster dredge, except that they are lighter, have not teeth on the front bar, and have cotton instead of a chain bag. The bags originally used were three feet deep, but deeper ones were found more effective in preventing the escape of the crabs,and four feet is now the usual depth. The same apparatus is occasionally used both in dredging for oysters and scraping for crabs.
A scoop net, or dip net, as it is sometimes called, consists of a circular bow of iron, with a cotton bag from six to eight inches deep knit around it, and a handle about five feet long.
The seines are from forty to fifty feet long, and are hauled by two men. Crabs taken in scoop nets and seines are less mutilated than those caught in scrapes, and consequently command better prices.
Scrapes are used exclusively upon sailing vessels, and, like oyster dredges, are drawn over the bottom while the boat is moving under sail.
The soft-crab season extends from May 1 to Oct. 31, but a majority of the crabbers discontinue fishing in September to engage in oyster tonging. During the first two or three weeks of May they follow what is known as "mud-larking," that is, scoop-netting in marshes and along the banks of small streams, the crabs being found in the mud at this season of the year. By June 1 the crabs become more active and the season is then considered at its height. The heaviest catches are made during June and July. Scoop-netting is followed throughout the season, but little scraping is done after the middle of July, owing to the calm weather. Very often a fisherman will begin scraping early in the day, and when the wind has ceased anchor his sailboat and use his skiff for scoop-netting in shallow water. In some localities the bottom grass grows so thick that the scrape bag fills with it and prevents the crab from entering. The scoop net is then brought into service. In water less than three feet deep it is a common occurrence for the crabbers to leave their skiffs and wade out after the crabs with scoop nets.
There are six stages of a crab's life, commonly classified as follows: First, the "hard crab," or one it its natural condition; second, a "snot," or one that has just entered the shedding stage; third, a "peeler," when the old shell has begun to break; fourth, a "buster," when the new shell can be seen; fifth, the "soft crab"; sixth, a "paper-shell," or "buckram," when the new shell is beginning to harden. During hot weather it takes from two to three days for a "snot" to become a "peeler." One tide will often change a "peeler" to a "buster," and another from a "buster" to a soft crab. A few hours after shedding the crab has reached the "paper shell" stage, and within three days the hardening process is completed.
Most of the crab catch is sold on the grounds where taken, the dealers in Crisfield and Deal Island employing buy-boats for this purpose.
Every crabber has what is known as a float, a rectangular box approximately ten or fifteen feet long, four feet wide, and two feet deep, the sides and ends being constructed of laths and the bottom of six-inch planks. Extending around the float on the outside, midway of its height, is a shelf about seven inches wide to prevent the float from sinking. The laths on the sides and ends are placed about one-fourth inch apart, to prevent minnows or eels from getting at the crabs inside. These floats are used by the fishermen as a means of holding crabs that have entered upon the shedding process, but which have not yet reached the "peeler" or salable condition. The floats are inclosed by a fence to prevent their being washed way by strong winds, and this inclosure is commonly called a "pound."
Dealers employ men to watch their floats constantly and remove the crabs from the water immediately after the shedding process, to prevent the hardening of the shell. This sorting is done three or four times a day, the intervals being employed in packing the crabs for shipment, receiving fresh supplies, and in delivering those already packed to the express office or steamboat wharf.
A source of much loss in soft crabs is the great mortality attendant upon the shedding process. If the animal has been injured in any way, either when being caught or in the subsequent handling, or if it has been weakened by being kept too long out of water, it is often unable to withdraw from the old shell and dies. There is but small demand for the crabs which die in the floats. If they are removed and cooked within two or three hours, however, they can still be eaten, and for this purpose command a small price. A few are shipped to be used as fish-bait, but the majority are either thrown away or given to persons in the neighborhood who feed them to hogs or to impounded diamond-back terrapin. The mortality among shedding crabs is greatest during hot and sultry weather; thunder storms are said to be very destructive at times, but whether this destruction is due to the sultry weather preceding or to the electrical disturbance during the storm is a disputed point. The crabs in the floats are not fed, even though they remain there for several days. It was formerly the practice to throw in pieces of stale meat or other refuse, but, although the crabs ate it, they died more quickly than if nothing was given them.
The work of packing crabs for shipment is begun by covering the bottom of the box to a depth of two or three inches with seaweed which has been thoroughly picked over to remove all lumps. On this soft bed the crabs are placed in a nearly vertical position and so close together that they cannot move out of place. Seaweed or moss is then placed over them to protect them, and over this is placed a layer of fine crushed ice. The other trays, after being packed in the same manner, are placed one above the other, and the lid is nailed on. The box is then ready for shipment. Some dealers, in order that their shipments may present a more attractive appearance upon reaching market, place a piece of cheesecloth immediately over the crabs and the seaweed over that. By reason of the extreme care used in packing, the crabs can be kept alive from sixty to seventy hours after leaving the water, and crabs shipped from Crisfield to Canada arrive at their destination alive and in good condition.
At present most of the crabs are shipped directly to the consumer, and the packers do not hesitate to fill the smallest order. Competition among the packers is very keen, and considerable secrecy is observed regarding the destination of shipments. When a box is ready the dealer's name and address are stenciled upon it, and a tag bearing the consignee's name and address is attached; but over the latter, so as to hide it completely, is tacked a piece of cardboard bearing the letter "W" (west) or "E" (east). This is known as a "blind tag," and is not removed until after the box is in the express car, if shipped by rail, or in Baltimore, if it goes by steamer.
While the great bulk of the catch, in fact nearly all of it, is shipped in the manner described above, a small but increasing number of soft crabs are being put up in hermetically sealed tin cans for indefinite preservation. For this purpose the prime soft crabs are boiled and put up very much the same as any other animal product. From two to twenty-four entire crabs are put into each can, the former number into a can holding about one half pint, the latter into a one gallon can. When put up in this manner the crabs retain much of their delicious flavor and should furnish an admirable substitute for the fresh article during the winter season.
The price received by the fishermen for soft crabs, or those in the process of shedding, varies from one-half to four cents each, an average during the season being about 1 1/2 cents. In buying, the dealer often counts three small crabs as two large ones, or two small as one large one, according to size.
There has been no very material change in the catch of crabs throughout the region, except a slight increase due to the greater number of crabbers each year.
The Hard Crab Industry.
Oxford and Cambridge are the most important hard-crab centers in the State, though the industry is prosecuted extensively in many other localities, including Crisfield, where, however, it is overshadowed by the more important soft-crab industry. The larger portion of the catch is made in the Choptank, Tred Avon, Wicomico, St. Michaels, Chester and Little Annemessex rivers, and Chesapeake bay, on the eastern shore of the State, and in Mill creek, a tributary of the Patuxent River, on the western shore. The crabs are taken in depths of water varying from two feet in the rivers to forty feet in the open waters of Chesapeake bay. The average depth would be about ten feet. They usually frequent muddy bottom, but at certain season of the year they are found on hard bottoms, thus differing from soft crabs, which always seek grassy bottoms.
At Crisfield the fishery for hard crabs is carried on from early in April until the latter part of November. In most other localities the season is considerably shorter. The larger portion of the catch is taken between June 1 and Sept. 1, most of the fishermen discontinuing at the latter date to take up oyster tonging.
With the exception of the crabs already mentioned as being caught in oyster dredges and the few taken together with soft crabs, the entire hard-crab catch of the State is obtained with trot lines. These lines vary in length from 200 to 1,000 yards, the average being about 450 yards, and are of cotton, mail, or grass rope, the size running from one-eight to five-eighths of an inch in diameter, but usually being about one-fourth inch. Many fishermen tar their lines, though the practice is not universal. In some localities snoods about eighteen inches in length, of fine twine, are fastened to the main line at intervals of three to four feet, the bait being placed at the ends of
The use of snoods is preferable where the water is rough, as the crabs are not so easily shaken off by the strain on the line when pulling the boat along and when the line is being lifted from the water in removing the crabs. Many fishermen advise their use under all circumstances, as with snoods swinging from the main line the crabs are able to see the bait from any direction. Trot lines are always anchored on the bottom of a stream. For this purpose grapnels or killicks weighing from five to ten pounds are used, one being placed at each end of the line, and in many cases one also in the center. A buoy, usually consisting of a small keg or some wooden object, is placed near each end of the line to locate it.
Beef tripe and eels constitute the usual bait, though calf pelts, sting rays, hog chokers, spoilt beef, and various other substitutes are sometimes used. It is likely that the use of tripe will discontinue in the near future, owing to the fact that the steamboats have refused to transport it on account of its offensive odor and the railroad companies will not handle it except when it is paced in tightly sealed barrels. The bait is generally used in a salted condition, and is placed on the line at intervals of three or four feet. Fishermen bait their lines about once a week, in the meanwhile replacing any bait that may have been washed away or eaten. It is usual on Saturday or Monday to remove the old bait and put on fresh. After a line has been rebaited it is placed in a coil and covered with salt to preserve the bait until it is used.
With few exceptions only one man goes in a boat. The lines are set about one-fourth to the tide, or diagonally across a stream. In fishing, the line is drawn across the
bow of the boat; a short-handled scoop net is used to transfer the crab to the boat. The lines are overhauled from ten to twenty times in the course of a day. In some localities crabbers aim to reach the fishing grounds shortly after midnight, while at others they arrive as late as three or four o'clock in the morning. The object in going early is to get a good lay. If it is a moonlight night the lines are set as soon as a lay is reached, but if it is dark the crabbers await daylight, in the meanwhile taking a nap. Crabs very seldom bite before daylight, but if they do not begin soon after, the fishermen consider it as well to return home. Very few crabs are taken between 10 o'clock in the morning and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, both on account of the heat and the difficulty in getting the catch ashore in good condition. Hard crabbers are dependent upon neither wind nor tide, but should the water be rough the crabs are liable to be shaken off before they can be caught.
Very often a male and female crab when mating are taken together on a trot line, this usually occurring when the female is entering the shedding stage. The pair are called "doublers," or "channeler and his wife." In most localities where hard crabs are taken there are one or more firms handling soft crabs -- that is, those taken on trot lines as "doublers." At some places there is no sale for the female thus taken, and she is returned to the water, while in other localities she is sold along with the hard crabs at the same price. The proportion of "doublers" taken varies in different localities from one in one hundred crabs to one in ten, and they are generally taken on grassy bottoms. A "channeler," or any large male hard crab, is called "Jimmy" or "Jim Crab."
The size of a market crab varies with the season and also with the locality. Early in the season 500 will fill a sugar barrel, while later from 200 to 300 is sufficient. The average weight of a single crab is about one-third of a pound. Two were taken near Crisfield early in 1902 weighing one pound each. The smallest crabs that are ever taken in that locality are about the size of a man's fingernail. The supposition that crabs spawn in the ocean near Cape Charles would account for the fact that no smaller ones are taken.
The crabs are disposed of in different ways. Probably the largest proportion is sold to factories for the extraction of the meat. The remainder is either shipped alive by the crabbers or sold to dealers, who also ship it in a live state. In some localities where the catch is small the crabs are sold locally either alive or deviled.
At Oxford, St. Michaels, Tilghman, and several neighboring localities almost the entire catch is utilized in cooking the meat which is shipped in tin buckets having perforated bottoms and holding from five to six pounds. The crab meat is prepared as follows: Immediately upon arrival at the factory the crabs are dumped into a large box, through which steam is forced from the bottom. They are steamed from twenty to forty minutes, the time varying at different factories, and according to the number cooked. After this the crabs are distributed among the pickers, some of whom, with long experience, become very expert in extracting the meat. The pickers in most cases are white women and children, though at some factories all are colored. After the meat has been extracted ice water is thrown over it and about three ounces of salt added to each twenty pounds of meat. The meat is packed in buckets after it is salted and is placed in a large ice-box and covered with ice, where it remains until shipped. After the meat has been extracted the crab shells are cleaned and certain number are sent with every shipment of meat, to be used principally in making deviled crabs.
A factory at Oxford has been engaged during the last two seasons in grinding crab shells and disposing of the resultant product to fertilizer manufacturers for use as an ingredient. Its value as an ingredient for fertilizer is due to the nine per cent. of ammonia which it contains.
The total number of men engaged in the industry in 1901 was 5,388. Sixty-nine vessels, valued at $24,000, were employed, 55 of these being engaged in taking crabs and 14 in transporting them. The total number of boats used was 4,082, valued at $125,847. Including vessels, boats, apparatus, shore property and cash capital, the investment in the fishery was $321,974. The catch was 12,910,746 soft crabs, valued at $202,563, and 29,474,379 hard crabs valued at $85,884.