What area? They seem to have disappeared from East and West Matagorda compared to what they used to be like. Rumor is they're being overly commercial fished and shipped to Maryland because their fishery can no longer support their demand.

Bolivar

I dont know all their schedules but Southwest used to have non stop flights from different Texas coastal areas to Baltimore due in large part to the fresh crabs.

CS78 said:

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What area? They seem to have disappeared from East and West Matagorda compared to what they used to be like. Rumor is they're being overly commercial fished and shipped to Maryland because their fishery can no longer support their demand.

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Crab traps I walked up to in West Matty had at least half a dozen or so in each on Sunday. I am not sure how long since they had been run, or what old numbers used to look like. I did see more than normal swimming around me, but I agree, all anecdotal and super small sample size. Trout and Redfish bite was really good this weekend for a slow solunar/tide prediction. I was impressed.

I keep meaning to buy a handful of traps to take on my skiff, bait & drop off in the morning, then pick up on the way home but never get around to it.

Caught another dozen last weekend. Tried steaming them this time. Turned out great. I used Old Bay, Maryland style, but honestly the point of steaming is to isolate the crab flavor. I steamed using vinegar, beer, and water in equal parts. Was looking forward to a couple of nice big ones, but they had just molted and had less meat than the medium ones. Will definitely try steaming again.

schmellba99 said:

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TarponChaser said:

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CS78 said:

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What area? They seem to have disappeared from East and West Matagorda compared to what they used to be like. Rumor is they're being overly commercial fished and shipped to Maryland because their fishery can no longer support their demand.

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Wouldn't surprise me.

Commercial crabbing and oystering operations have devastated the populations here and destroying habitat.

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Especially oystering. I know it pissed a lot of people off, but when the state started closing oyster beds to harvest it was a good thing long term. You could always tell after the oyster harvesters came through, there would be trash strewn across the bay in their wake.

And I love me some fried oysters too. But not at the expense of killing the bays.

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If the Apalachicola area in Florida which had traditionally been a massive source of oysters can shut down commercial oyster operations for 5-6 years to restore the populations and ecosystem then there is no reason we can't do likewise in Texas.

IMHO, we should shut down commercial oyster harvest on public reefs and move to a controlled lease system and increase permitted mariculture for oysters. Especially after seeing how so many commercial oyster boats both local and from out of state come in and absolutely pillage the public reefs in Texas these operators are destroying the bays.

redag06 said:

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CS78 said:

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What area? They seem to have disappeared from East and West Matagorda compared to what they used to be like. Rumor is they're being overly commercial fished and shipped to Maryland because their fishery can no longer support their demand.

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Texas has been shipping crabs to Maryland for a long time.

When you are known for crabs, people want crabs year round, so they rely on Texas crabs for that.

Was once flying from Houston to Baltimore, and we were delayed leaving the gate. Captain comes on the speaker and says " Sorry folks we are waiting on one last thing to be loaded, you'll never believe what we are bringing to Baltimore, Texas crabs"

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Can verify. Used to live up there, sister still does. Crabs are a massive industry, but the Chesapeake Bay can't keep up with demand.

They can get a little frosty when you tell them that most of their states crabs now come from the Gulf.

They are invading Europe now. Europeans are learning that isn't all bad.