This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

I later learned that they should be transported on ice with a roughly
50 degree temp being the best.

The thing I don't get is why did they die in the cooler in just a
couple of hours? In all the time we were crabbing I never saw one crab
"come up for air" so I assume that they can breath in water.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

On Sep 15, 8:26*am, DerbyDad03 wrote:
This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

I later learned that they should be transported on ice with a roughly
50 degree temp being the best.

The thing I don't get is why did they die in the cooler in just a
couple of hours? In all the time we were crabbing I never saw one crab
"come up for air" so I assume that they can breath in water.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

Probably got too hot.

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

I later learned that they should be transported on ice with a roughly
50 degree temp being the best.

The thing I don't get is why did they die in the cooler in just a
couple of hours? In all the time we were crabbing I never saw one crab
"come up for air" so I assume that they can breath in water.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?



Your last question: Yes. They need moving, fresh water, which is why live
wells on boats have pumps & aerators. I used to go crabbing with my
grandfather, and if we didn't have ice handy, he'd put the crabs in the
cooler between layers of wet towels, or even newspaper, which he always
seemed to have on his boat.

Your nose is the best judge of whether conditions in the cooler are still
healthy. It doesn't take long for unhealthy seafood to smell "off".

On Sep 15, 8:45*am, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message

...





This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

I later learned that they should be transported on ice with a roughly
50 degree temp being the best.

The thing I don't get is why did they die in the cooler in just a
couple of hours? In all the time we were crabbing I never saw one crab
"come up for air" so I assume that they can breath in water.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

Your last question: Yes. They need moving, fresh water, which is why live
wells on boats have pumps & aerators. I used to go crabbing with my
grandfather, and if we didn't have ice handy, he'd put the crabs in the
cooler between layers of wet towels, or even newspaper, which he always
seemed to have on his boat.

Your nose is the best judge of whether conditions in the cooler are still
healthy. It doesn't take long for unhealthy seafood to smell "off".- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks.

"Your nose is the best judge of whether conditions in the cooler
are still healthy."

When we got back to the condo I was concerned about eating the dead
crabs. I had heard that you should never eat dead crabs because the
bacteria begin to grow very soon after they die. I was almost resigned
to telling the family that we weren't having crab for dinner when I
came across a website from the University of Texas that basically said
that if you *know* when they died and if it's only been a couple of
hours, then you're safe.

Apparently all the other info was related to *buying* dead crab, like
off a truck or something, where you don't know when they died.

We ate our fill and no one got sick.

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
On Sep 15, 8:45 am, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message

...





This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

I later learned that they should be transported on ice with a roughly
50 degree temp being the best.

The thing I don't get is why did they die in the cooler in just a
couple of hours? In all the time we were crabbing I never saw one crab
"come up for air" so I assume that they can breath in water.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

Your last question: Yes. They need moving, fresh water, which is why live
wells on boats have pumps & aerators. I used to go crabbing with my
grandfather, and if we didn't have ice handy, he'd put the crabs in the
cooler between layers of wet towels, or even newspaper, which he always
seemed to have on his boat.

Your nose is the best judge of whether conditions in the cooler are still
healthy. It doesn't take long for unhealthy seafood to smell "off".- Hide
quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks.

"Your nose is the best judge of whether conditions in the cooler
are still healthy."

When we got back to the condo I was concerned about eating the dead
crabs. I had heard that you should never eat dead crabs because the
bacteria begin to grow very soon after they die. I was almost resigned
to telling the family that we weren't having crab for dinner when I
came across a website from the University of Texas that basically said
that if you *know* when they died and if it's only been a couple of
hours, then you're safe.

Apparently all the other info was related to *buying* dead crab, like
off a truck or something, where you don't know when they died.

We ate our fill and no one got sick.

============


"knowing when" - that's a good point.

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.


If you really want to get nutty about this (and you should, if your kids are
smart enough to love seafood), here's an idea:

http://www.smartanglers.com/main/node/7135

A google search for "portable fish live well" comes up with similar plans.

I listened NPR cooking episode last month about a guy who shipped
eels across the country.
His eels got lost and arrived a week late, spoiled.
Since he paid so much for them, he cooked them for hours and ate them
anyway, and lived to report it.

You could have added a a couple of drops of Hydrogen Peroxide / gal
water /hr.
It gives off 02.
We did this in science lab in 7th grade.

"Deodiaus" wrote in message
...

I listened NPR cooking episode last month about a guy who shipped
eels across the country.
His eels got lost and arrived a week late, spoiled.
Since he paid so much for them, he cooked them for hours and ate them
anyway, and lived to report it.


With eels, it's the industrial toxins in their flesh which keep some of the
bacteria at bay. :-)

On Sep 15, 10:06*am, Deodiaus wrote:
You could have added a a couple of drops of Hydrogen Peroxide / gal
water /hr.
It gives off 02.
We did this in science lab in 7th grade.

Yep, there I was, standing at the end of 3 mile dirt road, in the
middle of a nature preserve, saying "Honey, did you bring any Hydrogen
Peroxide on our crabbing trip?"

I'll keep in mind for next year. ;-)

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
On Sep 15, 10:06 am, Deodiaus wrote:
You could have added a a couple of drops of Hydrogen Peroxide / gal
water /hr.
It gives off 02.
We did this in science lab in 7th grade.

Yep, there I was, standing at the end of 3 mile dirt road, in the
middle of a nature preserve, saying "Honey, did you bring any Hydrogen
Peroxide on our crabbing trip?"

I'll keep in mind for next year. ;-)

===========

Don't bother. If it was such a hot idea, I'm sure I would've heard of it
before, after reading fishing books & magazines for 35+ years.

On Sep 15, 10:54*am, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:
"DerbyDad03" wrote in message

...
On Sep 15, 10:06 am, Deodiaus wrote:

You could have added a a couple of drops of Hydrogen Peroxide / gal
water /hr.
It gives off 02.
We did this in science lab in 7th grade.

Yep, there I was, standing at the end of 3 mile dirt road, in the
middle of a nature preserve, saying "Honey, did you bring any Hydrogen
Peroxide on our crabbing trip?"

I'll keep in mind for next year. ;-)

===========

Don't bother. If it was such a hot idea, I'm sure I would've heard of it
before, after reading fishing books & magazines for 35+ years.

"Don't bother."

pssst...don't tell Deodiaus, but I wasn't really planning on doing it.

On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:26:14 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03
wrote:

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

Yes, basically. They need oxygen. Stagnant, non-aerated water will
kill the crabs. If you want fresh crabs as a bait keep them in a live
well.

Growing up on the Gulf coast of Florida, I've never seen crabs
transported in water. "Crabbers" checked their crab pots early in the
morning, and threw the catch in a "crab box" (a slatted box). They
would make the run to the fish house where the crabs were iced down or
placed in a display case. Just for shade one might put wet burlap over
the box...not always though.

On Sep 15, 6:38*pm, Oren wrote:
On Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:26:14 -0700 (PDT), DerbyDad03

wrote:
Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

Yes, basically. They need oxygen. Stagnant, non-aerated water will
kill the crabs. If you want fresh crabs as a bait keep them in a live
well.

Growing up on the Gulf coast of Florida, I've never seen crabs
transported in water. *"Crabbers" checked their crab pots early in the
morning, and threw the catch in a "crab box" (a slatted box). *They
would make the run to the fish house where the crabs were iced down or
placed in a display case. Just for shade one might put wet burlap over
the box...not always though.

"threw the catch in a "crab box" (a slatted box)."

As the week went on, we began to understand why we saw people crabbing
with a bushel basket with spaces between the slats.

Not only was a bushel the daily limit per person, it also must be a
good way to transport them.

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
This has been bothering me for a few weeks.

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

I later learned that they should be transported on ice with a roughly
50 degree temp being the best.

The thing I don't get is why did they die in the cooler in just a
couple of hours? In all the time we were crabbing I never saw one crab
"come up for air" so I assume that they can breath in water.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen in the cooler water and
basically drown?

Yes, your crabs used up the O2 in the water and suffocated. That is the
ones who were submerged in water. Some stayed alive by frothing air over
their gills.

Kill them live and clean them before transporting on ice. An ice pick
through them at the top point towards the eyes of the triangular under
flange will kill them. The males have a skinny flange, the females a delta
shaped flange. Or just get good at it and rip their top shell off and wash
out all the inedible crap.

If you buy them live, put them in highly salted water for a hour so they
flush themselves out, then rinse, clean and cook.

Not good to have crabs at room temperature unless they are in water that
will keep them alive, and once they're dead, clean and ice immediately.

Killing while live is best.

Steve

Heart surgery pending?
Read up and prepare.
Learn how to care for a friend.
http://cabgbypasssurgery.com

"DerbyDad03" wrote in message
...
On Sep 15, 2:43 pm, notbob wrote:
On 2010-09-15, DerbyDad03 wrote:

We went to Ocean City, MD last month and spent a day crabbing with
chicken legs and string. We caught enough crabs in a few hours to feed
the 6 of us.

I mistakenly assumed that since the crabs live in the water I should
transport them back to our condo in water, so I put enough water in
the cooler to cover them. They were all pretty feisty during the few
hours we were catching them and tossing them in the cooler.

However, a couple of hours later when we got back to the condo, 90% of
them were dead.

Boy, that sounds familiar. Same thing happened to me when we visited
my aunt who lived on the Jersey shore. Crabbed all day for a
huge crab boil the next afternoon. My aunt specifically warned not to
cover
the crabs in water, but allow them to sit in a large empty tub, overnight.
Me, being a young stupid teen who knew better than my elders (is there
any other kind!?), immediately disregarded the warning and covered them
in fresh water, my younger brother threatening, "I'm gonna tell". I
wish he had. Next morning, all dead and my aunt at mach 3 ballistic.

Did they simply use up all of the oxygen.....

Bingo!

nb

If it had been "Next day" I wouldn't have eaten them either! It was
no more than a couple of hours since they were loaded - alive - into
the van before I opened the cooler back at the condo, so I wasn't too
worried.

The other thing that happened that night was that I grabbed all the
pots I could find in the rented condo, ending up with 4 pots (one for
each burner).

One pot held 3 crabs, 1 held 2, the other 2 held 1 each. As you can
imagine, we were eating pretty slowly since I could only cook them in
batches of 7 or so. It's a good thing it takes time to crack them open
and eat!

Wouldn't you know it - the next day I found a huge crab steaming pot
still in it's box, inside a bag, in the corner of the pantry.

reply: Yuck, you cooked them whole? Another good point to cleaning them
first is that they take up a whole lot less space.

Steve

Heart surgery pending?
Read up and prepare.
Learn how to care for a friend.
http://cabgbypasssurgery.com

"DerbyDad03" wrote

As the week went on, we began to understand why we saw people crabbing
with a bushel basket with spaces between the slats.

Not only was a bushel the daily limit per person, it also must be a
good way to transport them.

reply: It helps when they are stacked in the hold with crushed ice in
between. Helps it melt off, drain off, and cool faster and more evenly.

Steve

On 9/15/2010 9:31 PM, Steve B wrote:
wrote in message
...
(snip)
Killing while live is best.

Uh, how can you kill then while they are anything BUT live?

(Yeah, I know what you meant- but somebody had to say it....)

Your detailed description is a good example of why I only eat seafood or
4-legged food or flying food if somebody else kills/cleans it. I gross
out REAL easily. Not saying it is wrong, mind you, just that I can't do
it. The world is probably a safer place because I am squeamish.

--
aem sends...

"aemeijers" wrote in message
...
On 9/15/2010 9:31 PM, Steve B wrote:
wrote in message
...
(snip)
Killing while live is best.

Uh, how can you kill then while they are anything BUT live?

(Yeah, I know what you meant- but somebody had to say it....)

Your detailed description is a good example of why I only eat seafood or
4-legged food or flying food if somebody else kills/cleans it. I gross out
REAL easily. Not saying it is wrong, mind you, just that I can't do it.
The world is probably a safer place because I am squeamish.

--
aem sends...

I'm not that squeamish, but the sight of people eating crabs with the guts
all over the place and saying "YUMMY!" turns my stomach. The thought of all
that goo that is inside a crab cooking throughout the meat and throughout
the crab is more than I can bear.

I single-handedly changed several Cajun families practice by serving them
crabs that were cleaned before cooking.

Steve

On 2010-09-16, aemeijers wrote:

(Yeah, I know what you meant- but somebody had to say it....)

Not really.

nb

"Steve B" wrote:
-snip-
I'm not that squeamish, but the sight of people eating crabs with the guts
all over the place and saying "YUMMY!" turns my stomach. The thought of all
that goo that is inside a crab cooking throughout the meat and throughout
the crab is more than I can bear.

The tomalley is my favorite part of crabs and lobsters. Next is the
claws-- you can have the lobster tail and crab white meat.


I single-handedly changed several Cajun families practice by serving them
crabs that were cleaned before cooking.

They shoulda been eating crawfish, anyways.g

Jim