Defending Against the Blue Crab Invasion

If you find your waters have been invaded by blue crabs, do what we do and soon they will be an endangered species.

- Anonymous

I have found myself intrigued by the recent stories about how blue crabs have invaded the waters of the Mediterranean sea. Having lived near the waters of the Chesapeake Bay for decades, I am very familiar with the small, bluish-green crustacean.

For a period spanning three summers, I worked at a crab house. My principal responsibility was to stuff crab pots for steaming. Each pot was stuffed with a particular size of crab: small, medium, large, extra large and jumbo. As each pot was stuffed, one alternated between layers of crabs and crab spice. There were bushels of blue crabs, in various state of agitation, and barrels of crab spice. It was not an easy job working for hours in a one-hundred degree kitchen for low pay. It even killed my interest in cooking for years.

As long-time followers of this blog know, it was not until approximately 10 to 12 years later until I revived my interest in cooking. That revival occurred during a trip to Italy. I fell in love with the cuisine, starting with the two regions that I visited: Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.  I then began to explore other Italian regions and eventually other countries, which has led to this globally-inspired cooking blog. 

Artist: Albert Kallis

Yet, it was a recent story in Nature.com about the invasion of blue crabs caught my attention. The story talked about how the species was threatening the northern Adriatic Sea, including the Po River where it is threatening the local clam harvests. Blue crabs can be voracious eaters of clams, mussels and oysters. They also reproduce in large numbers and, if left unchecked, can quickly overtake a local ecosystem, turning into what some describe as an underwater desert. The crabs are also difficult to catch, being able to use their sharp claws to cut through nets. To a region with a long, venerated culinary history and traditions, the appearance of blue crabs may seem very threatening. Kind of like a old horror movie.

I should note that the recent events in the north Adriatic are not the first blue crab invasion in the Mediterranean Sea - or even the Adriatic Sea. There are reports of blue crabs invading the river deltas of Croatia in 2020, the shores and lagoons of Albania in 2021, as well as shorelines of France and Spain and Gibraltar. In each case, the blue crab was able to take over an area, creating a threat not only to the local molluscs, but also the fish and even the plant life.

Source: Kim Cover

As voracious as the blue crab may be, they have a natural predator that can be just as insatiable - us. For those of us who live around the Chesapeake Bay, we know the troubled history of the blue crab in our waters. Overfishing and consumption, combined with poor regulations and the introduction of the crab pot - led to significant declines in blue crab populations. The population declines have been worsened by runoff from farms, whose pollution has affected not only the blue crabs, but the environs around which they live. From the mid-1990s until 2004, the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay fell from 900 million to about 300 million. The population fell to its lowest level in 2022, as determined by 33 years of surveys.  

Quite ironically, where Italy has dedicated nearly $3 million Euros to reducing the numbers of crabs in its waters, the U.S. government - along with the governments of Maryland and Virginia - are taking various steps -- such as improving water quality and restoring oyster reefs -- to protect the species and grow its numbers. 

For this post, I thought I would do my part to help those along the shores of the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas suffering from an "invasion" of one of my favorite foods to eat. I am reproducing my all-time favorite (as of right now) blue crab recipe below, as well as links to other very good recipes that one can find on this blog.

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE BLUE CRAB RECIPE (AS OF RIGHT NOW)

CAROLINA CRAB RICE

Recipe from the Smithsonian Institution

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
• 2 cups water
• Small pinch of salt
• 2-3 strips of thick cut bacon, diced
• 1 celery stalk diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, any color, diced 
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 pound of crabmeat, cooked (preferably lump)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Salt
• Black pepper

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rice. Rinse the dry rice under cool water 3 to 4 times and drain. Put the rinsed rice into a small pot, cover with 2 cups of water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the pot and let the rice cook undisturbed for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, crack the lid of the pot so the rice can stop cooking and set aside. 

2. Fry the bacon. In a small skillet, fry the bacon pieces over medium-low heat until all of the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully remove the bacon pieces and set them aside. Reserve the rendered fat in the pan.

3. Fry the vegetables. Over medium heat, add celery, bell pepper and onion to the pan with the bacon fat and sauté until vegetables have softened and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add crabmeat and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until crab has begun to crisp. 

4. Finish the dish. Add the cooked rice, bacon and seasonings to the pan with the vegetables. Incorporate all of the ingredients until evenly mixed, turn to low and let cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately. 

OTHER DELICIOUS BLUE CRAB RECIPES

If you want some more culinary ideas on how to control blue crab populations, I strongly suggest these possibilities: 

Blue Crabcake Algonquin: This recipe comes in a close second to the Carolina Crab Rice. This recipe comes a book called Renewing America's Food Traditions, which discusses endangered ingredients across the North American continent. This recipe is a very traditional and very delicious crabcake.

Steamed Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs: This is the traditional method of preparing crabs in along the bay. Just replace "Chesapeake Bay" with "Adriatic Sea" and you are good to go. Also, if you need a recipe for Old Bay seasoning, check out my attempt to recreate that iconic spice mixture.

Crab Flake Salad: This recipe could be found on the menus of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's dining cars. It is a very simple preparation that makes an amazing appetizer. A similar version of this dish hails from the coastlines of Mississippi and Alabama, which is known as West Indies Salad.

Fire Roasted Gazpacho with Maryland Lump Crab: This recipe combines perhaps my most favorite soup - Gazpacho - with one of my most favorite proteins, blue crab. The fire-roasting of the gazpacho ingredients is an idea of master griller Steven Raichlen.

Chesapeake Paella: This recipe utilizes blue crab in a seafood paella (also, if you happen to find some soft-shell blue crabs, then you can enjoy eating the entire crab - minus its face and gills, of course). This recipe provides a wonderful combination of Chesapeake and Valencian culinary influences.

These are just some of the blue crab recipes on the blog, but they are definitely among my favorites. I offer these suggestions as my part to help those living survive the invasion of blue crabs. Until next time ...

ENJOY!