West Coast Crabbing

Living on the West Coast means a lot of things, and one of the big ones is liking, foraging, hunting and enjoying what the ocean has to offer.

For me, that means crabbing.

I try to get out crabbing at least a couple times a month, and nine times out of ten I go with my mom. We don’t go out in a boat and drop a soaker trap and come back a few hours later. Instead, we have what are called ‘Casting Traps’, which are tossed out from a dock or pier.

Casting Traps are semi circular when closed, and open to a circle on the ocean floor. In the center of your circle is your bait bag. Usually the bait bag is made from plastic, but we replaced them with suet feeders so the seals can’t bite through them and steal our bait!

The bait we commonly use is chicken thighs – bone in, the crab can’t pull the bait out as easily. The caster hangs onto a rope attached to the net. After about fifteen minutes (or less if you’re impatient) the caster starts to pull on the rope, drawing it back to the pier. The tension on the rope closes the net much like a Venus fly trap, closing the feasting crab inside. Then it’s onto the pier to be sorted!

There is no set crabbing ‘season’ in British Columbia, but one does need a specific salt water fishing license. Along with the license, there are specific guidelines as well.

An ethical and responsible crabber keeps only males, distinguished by a certain shape on their undersides. Females are more rounded, with a shape resembling an ‘igloo’, whereas males are elongated, resembling a ‘lighthouse’. Along with that, one can only take males bigger than a certain size.

Of the two types of crab commonly caught on the coast of British Columbia, one can keep male Red Rock crab measuring 4.5” across the top of his shell, or ‘carapace’, and for a male Dungeness, the minimum measurement is 6.5”. The daily bag limit for crab of either type is four.

Just like any other sportsman activity, there are rule breakers.

Poaching is a big problem when it comes to crabbing. People keeping under-size crab, as well as stashing females in their buckets is a common issue. Some don’t even bother getting licenses. Or – worse still, some think it’s ethical to just tear the claws off under-size or female crab and toss them back into the water unable to defend themselves or eat.

Claws do regenerate, but it can take over three months, and personally I find the practice inhumane.

After all the excitement of casting, measuring, celebrating, and - more often than not - disappointingly exclaiming how he was “JUST under!!” before tossing the majority of your haul back into the water, we pack up and take our buckets of well earned big boys home.

For the drive, I add a bag of ice. It makes the crab go to ‘sleep’ of sorts so they aren’t as feisty come cleaning time. The rock crab especially is a fighter, often raising both claws to you in an ‘EN GARDE” attempt.

Once home, I set up a cutting board, cleaver, and rubber mallet or hammer.

The humane way to kill a crab is to subsequently hit both of the main nerve centers (one in the body, one near the mouth) within a few seconds of each other.

The best practice I have found that also makes it very easy to clean them is to put the crab on his back, place the cleaver down the middle, and hit it a few solid times, without breaking all the way through the top shell. After this I place him in the sink for a few minutes.

To clean them, I peel back the distinguishing male ‘lighthouse’, place my thumb under the shell, hold the legs in the other hand and pry the legs and bottom half up and away from the carapace. Done correctly, I end up with legs, claw, and body meat halves, with the carapace holding all the innards. Then it’s some quick cleaning and rinsing and they are ready for steaming!

I have found this way to be both humane and so much more efficient when it comes to eating, as there is no ‘gutting’ to be done after the cooking process. The meat tastes cleaner, and it’s so much more satisfying to dive into after a long day. Also, keeping all the shell pieces after eating makes a great crab stock.

Even if it’s being a customary “West Coast” rainy day, there is something extra satisfying about getting up before the crack of dawn to set up some chairs on a pier, watch the sun come up and the fog banks dissipate, and watch the tide rise or fall.

Eagles, seagulls and seals watch in envy as you haul up traps laden with surprise. “Is there a keeper in there? How’s your bait? Aw man, SO CLOSE!” Drooling over the catch on the table later makes it even better!

Written by ReelCamo Girl Pro Staffer Brianna Patterson