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East coast blue claw crabs are trapped from late spring and until late summer.
In winter the blue claw crabs hibernate in the mud. Some crabbers dredge them up but most blue claws are taken in summer.
Sorry I thought it was pretty clear I was talking about Pacific crab.
I live in a lobster zip code. I’ll happily eat Maryland soft shell crab if I’m in DC and Dungeness crabmeat is great when I’m on the west coast. Crab is totally off my radar screen locally. Way too much work for the amount of crabmeat. Since I’m next to a major fishing port, live king crab that had an airplane ticket is not a thing. I’m not going to buy frozen king crab legs when I have such good access to fresh local seafood.
I live in a lobster zip code. I’ll happily eat Maryland soft shell crab if I’m in DC and Dungeness crabmeat is great when I’m on the west coast. Crab is totally off my radar screen locally. Way too much work for the amount of crabmeat. Since I’m next to a major fishing port, live king crab that had an airplane ticket is not a thing. I’m not going to buy frozen king crab legs when I have such good access to fresh local seafood.
Sorry I thought it was pretty clear I was talking about Pacific crab.
I didn't realize you were only referring to pacific crab since you posted, "all crab is harvested in winter". Atlantic crabs may be off your radar just as Pacific crabs are off mine.
haven't read the entire thread but we do get King Crab here, even in our grocery stores. of course they are frozen, cause of where we are located, but we certainly do get them. Now, do I want to pay the price?Nope, so for us it is usually just plain ole claws and legs: certainly not King either.
Yeah, but you wouldn’t believe the pathetic produce we get in New England when local sources aren’t available. Same issue as seafood in other parts of the country. Anything fresh that needs 3 days in a truck is going to be lousy and it’s expensive to put it on an airplane. Tomatoes are inedible until July other than the genetically engineered grape and cherry tomatoes. Picked green. Zero flavor.
Can't say that I've ever bought any kind of crab as a whole/alive for home cooking. I'm simply not a very big fan of shellfish, and don't know anyone who says they are.
I'm with the others who addressed this post. Only thing I can think of is you are in the middle of the country and don't have the exposure to shel fish those near the coast have. Now granted I live in Maryland and blue crabs are to us what BBQ is to Memphis. But shellfish are huge anywhere near both coasts.
As for the OP I have never seen live king crabs here but that would make sense, we are thousands of miles from where they are harvested. When we were in Alaska I was hoping there would be these guys in trucks selling king crabs by the side of the road like they do here with blue crabs. Sadly I learned they can make more money shipping them to Seattle and selling them wholesale.
I lived in WA state for two years and was introduced to Dungeness crab while there. Later when we moved back to MN and had teen-aged children I wanted to share the experience with them and ordered seven crabs through my local butcher.
It was a sad and expensive lesson to learn that those succulent little creatures are best enjoyed close to their source. Not having fresh shellfish is one of the trade-offs of living inland.
I love crab but for me, it's too much effort for too little payback.
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