Keeping crabs alive in a bushel

[Slobber Bob]

Okay all you crabbers out there, is there an expected mortality rate for crabs you are catching and keeping in a bushel basket? If so, what is the rate? For example, maybe 6 crabs out of a bushel? More? Less? None?

I've recently gotten back into crabbing a little from the kayak behind Ocean City and I'm finding that I am having some of them die in the bushel basket by the time I get home. Some of them died for obvious reasons like another crab crushed its claw into it's face. But for for the most part, they all look fine and I'm not sure why they have died? My last trip I brought home about three-quarters of a bushel and had 10 that were stone dead, plus a few more that were just barely making bubbles in the mouth. The trip before that, I took home about a half bushel and had maybe 7 dead and 3 or 4 barely hanging on.


I'm crabbing at night (legal in the coastal bays), so the sun isn't a factor.
They are going in a plastic bushel basket that is out of the water, so accidental drowning it's happening.
I'm only crabbing for max an hour and half to two hours, so I don't think time is a factor?
It's still hot and humid even after dark, maybe that?
I try to keep them all right side up in the bushel, but it doesn't always work out like that. Will they die if they are in the bushel upside down?

Or is the mortality rate I'm experiencing normal?

And since I know the when, where, and who for catching them, I assume those dead ones would still be safe to cook if they've only been dead an hour or so? Or not? I've been only been freezing them for bait thus far.

I know.... a lot of questions So thanks in advance.

Here is how I'm keeping them as they are caught:
IMG_0487.jpg

[Steve6902]

The secret is keep them wet. I place mine in a cooler with the drain plug OPEN. Then place a wet towel over them and CRACK the lid OPEN. For long journeys I will place a ice on top of the towel. If the drain plug is closed they will die with ice on them. It you close the cooler lid they will suffocate. Just an inch or two of a crack for air flow. I have gone from Solomon's Island to Carroll County with 0 crabs dying.

[john from md]

I use a wood bushel basket and dip it every so often in the water and keep it covered with a wet towel. 0 mortality.

[MetroMan]

Meh...it happens, especially during the warm summertime. Once I'm done crabbing, keeping them cool is the trick in getting them home. A/C on full blast in the car...sometimes cover the bushel basket with a wet rag/burlap.


Often when I buy crabs to transport to NC, I can get a half bushel down there with 0 mortality for the 3+hr drive in a cooler. Layers: Ice-->paper bags-->crabs--> wet burlap-->cracked cooler lid.

[Shady]

I keep my crabs in a cooler with ice packs on the bottom and a wet towel over the tops of the crabs with the lid slightly cracked open. This keeps them cool and moist, but also out of the nasty water that they've expelled at the bottom of the cooler. I lose very few this way and many times I've even waited until the next day to cook them.

As far as if one does die, I usually will not cook them if the mouth is gaping open and the shell has changed color. This is a bad sign that it's been dead for a good while. If they've only been dead for less then an hour and have been kept cool, in my experience they are safe to eat. It seems if they've been dead too long the meat will be a different texture and if you've ate a lot of crabs, you'll notice the difference right away. In the past when I've had big monster crabs that look somewhat questionable (and I'd be heartbroken just tossing them), I've clipped off part of the back fin as a way to mark them. That way you'll know exactly which crab it was after steaming and can make a small taste test before eating the whole thing...

[Slobber Bob]

Hmmmm.... seems I'm doing something wrong

I don't think it's in the transport part as I'm less than 10 minutes from launch to house? But maybe next time I'll transfer them from the bushel to cooler before I leave the launch just to double check. And if I don't cook them that night, then I store them as the rest of you have mentioned, cooler with ice packs on bottom, damp rags over the crabs, and lid cracked and have none have died in the cooler.

I'm pretty sure they are dying in the bushel while I am still crabbing. Other than maybe not keeping them damp enough, or stopping to dunk the bushel every so often, I really don't know what else would cause them to die so quickly? I will certainly try those methods and report back.

[Slobber Bob]

And I did try eating a few of the ones looked liked they were the most recent to die. I cooked them separate so I would know which ones they were. They tasted normal and I didn't have any intestinal catastrophes - so that was good

I did notice 1 or 2 of the dead I cooked had an odd texture like Shady mentioned. I just added those ones to the compost pile.

[Steve6902]

While I am running a trotline I use a hand bilge pump to soak them with water every time I'm done going down the line. Also even 10 min in the back of a truck bed will kill them. If their gills dry out they will die.

[DOGFISH]

I have good luck with a wet towel on top of the crabs in the basket. Every so often dump a small bucket or container of water onto the towel. Like someone else said, keep them wet and cool. I used to keep them in a cooler. However, a DNR officer gave me crap about not being able to tell if there was a bushel of crab in the cooler. So, I changed to the wet towel method.

[moc]

I too use a wet towel on top of the crabs in a wooden basket while I am on the water. I keep the towel wet with the local water. When I get to land, I transfer the crabs in to a color with a raised bottom that I made to keep the crabs out of the water that they will generate. I will place ice on the crabs to cool them down during the trip home. Icing the crabs down well prevents them from loosing their claws while cooking. It also helps preserve, for a short while, the any crabs that may have died so you can cook them.

One thing that you may look at as to why some of your crabs died, could be the plastic basket vs the wooden ones. You always want your crabs wet and cool and not to dry out. I would imagine that a plastic basket will retain a small degree of warmth as compared to the wooden basket. Also, The wood in the wooden basket would get wet and retain some moisture thus helping keeping the crabs cool. Some plastic baskets would have more holes and airflow though them than the wooden baskets. This will add to drying out your crabs quicker, stressing them more. So all these points are small, but combined they may add up enough to explain why you may loose 6-10 crabs where someone else would loose 0 to 1 crabs, with all else being equal.

[Slobber Bob]

Interesting point Moc I didn't consider.

Thank you for the tips all!