I haven’t a clue as to how many blue crabs I’ve set eyes on over my lifetime spent on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, but it’s a lot. And each one examined, or eaten, is as magical as the first. The species is aptly named: Callinectes sapidus, which translates from Latin to mean “beautiful savory swimmer.
” No truer moniker has existed. They’re also called Zoea, Megalops, Jimmy, Sook, Sally and Doubler (when a male and female are mating). Most of us simply call them delicious.
Whatever the moniker, these armored, fiercely beautiful crustaceans are well-suited to surviving the hardships dished out by a changing Chesapeake. Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer season, and it’s not really a Chesapeake summer without crabs. From Turkey Point to Stove Point, tens of thousands of folks will belly up to picnic tables and devour this bay delicacy.
Steaming recipes vary as does the choice of culinary accoutrements. (You didn’t think I knew that word, did you?) You do you, but Old Bay, melted butter and apple cider vinegar are stables at our crab picking table. Coincidentley or not, results of the annual Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey were released this past week.
Conducted by Maryland and Virginia Bay resource agencies since 1990, biologists use dredge equipment to capture, measure, record and release blue crabs at 1,500 sites throughout Chesapeake Bay from December through March. Most importantly, survey results play a vital role in ensuring.
