Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1902-08-28
CRABS ARE PLENTIFUL.
Crisfield Market Glutted--P Packers Have
More Than They Can Handle.

Crisfield Market G1ntted-- Packers Have
More Than They Can Handle.
Crisfield, Md, Aug. %. Grabs are
more plentiful in the waters around
Crisfield than ever before The fisher
men state that such remarkable run
of crabs has never been known before
in Maryland. A large quantity of small
crabs began to appear about the first of
July and since that time they have be-
come SO plentiful that the dealers have
all their floats full and admit that they
cannot handle the catch. The crabs in
the floats are shedding slowly on ac-
count of the cool weather. The pack
ing houses are running night and day.
During the month of June crabs
brought 81. 25 per dozen, and the packers
who had made contracts for the season
saw nothing but bankruptcy ahead OF
them, while the fish commissioners be-
gan to consider the artificial propaga
tion of crabs. Now crabs are bringing
6 cents per dozen, and the market is
glutted.
The crab is we'll protected by nature
from all its enemies except man. When
fish are first Matched they become de-
licious morsels for all their species, and
even the females with roe are especially
priced as an article of diet. 1t is not
SO with crabs. The SOW crab, with at
least LOCO, 600 black eggs forming
round mass four inches in diameter
clinging to her blue apron. would
never form food for anything but the
young crabs themselves, who are created
and anxious to eat their mother. When
Matched the small crabs are soon pro.
vided with hard shell, which serves
as protection, and nearly all of the
great family must reach maturity. Tc
be sure some OF them are eaten by
drum fish and sheephead, but these fish
are not plentiful enough to diminish
appreciably the vast number of crabs
in these waters. ~
Green crabs are those beginning tc
feel the need of changing their shells.
They will become peelers in few days.
Peelers are so called because all the
shell can be removed without tearing
the flesh. They are used by fishermen
for bait, and are kept in floats by th G
crabbers until they shed, which hap.
pens in a day if they are ripe. Some
distinguish peeler by the red color
on the tip of the great fms, while
others examine the claws. II the crab
is ripe for shedding, there will be two
VI thfSo NTiHhl6S III CONNECTIVE Tissue
at the second joint or elbow of the
claw. In jimmies this tissue is per-
fectly smooth. w
Crabs are very combatiye and in shal.
| low water one can often see a battle
royal between rivals. This often re.
| suits in the loss of claw or fin. If a
claw has been broken off in few DAYS
white cartilaginous substance ap.
pears, probably an inch in length, which
increases in size at each successive
shedding until it equals the original
claw In peelers this white dug, as il
is called, changes in color to bright
red, which enables crabber to tell q
wounded peeler in six feet OK water. II
a lin is broken off the crab is likely tt
die in shedding, as be does not seem tc
be able to move without his fins from
the old she'll. Peelers always seek
grassy bottoms before moving time, as
after shedding they are soft and per
fectly helpless and are especially price
by their enemies of the deep.
| A crab is called buster as soon a.
the back part of the upper and lower
shells separate. 1t is supposed thai
crabs suffer somewhat in shedding and
experience great relief when freed from
the old shell. Still crabs are thos,
that have become too weak for shin
mont. They are always sold in til,
| home market