I woke early this morning. There were boats on the Ocean, working all night, their bright lights visible for miles. From our bedroom, they look like spotlights on a crime scene at night.
Our port is busy day and night, especially during crab season. Though Pacific storms will be blustering for weeks keeping small boats in the harbor, they will not keep local fishermen from dropping their crab traps at the beginning of December when crab season begins.
Day and night, boats will drop and retrieve traps, check their catch, move a few miles up and down the coast to find fertile territory, and collect enough cargo of this delicacy to provide every supermarket and restaurant with fresh catch for weeks.
Dungeness Crab is my favorite crab. I've eaten Blue Crab and Alaska King Crab. Nothing tastes better than freshly prepared Dungeness, boiled in salted water for twenty minutes with a few spices, and served on newsprint paper, to catch the liquid that will squirt when we pound and claw the meat out. On the side, there will be hot butter to dip the morsels in, and Fat Tire Beer to keep us going in this tormentous task of cracking, picking, slowly separating cartilage and bone from the soft and tender meat. I've served individual whole crabs with sides of potato salad, corn, and a green salad at our Christmas Eve Meal that can last for hours, depending on how dexterous we are.
Our fishermen deliver fresh catch to Pacific Fisheries, which purchase the live catch, and ship it all over the nation.
When you purchase your crab you will be tasting food that was dangerous to catch.
The price fishermen will receive for live crab this year: $1.75 a pound. The price supermarkets are charging for the same: $4-7 a pound.
When you sit down for your Christmas meal of fresh crab, remember that earning a living on the high seas is dangerous all the time, especially at this time.
Winter storms can snuff out a life in a second.
31 comments:
Shellfish is my all time favorite food. I don't know whether it's my thyroid meds or if I've just developed an allergy to it, but I can't eat it now. Bleh.
ahhh...crab. i love it. we used to have a man that would drive from the shore and set up right by our church. on sundays we would sometimes stop and pick up a couple dozen still wiggling in their baskets...fresh drawn butter...yum.
it is dangerous work. for which i am thankful.
A whole new perspective. We should value it all more, where it comes from and by whose hand.
Wonderful spin.
Yes, those storms - in a second.
xo
erin
At first when I read 1.75 pound I'm like where can we get that.
I didn't know they did that in December, mind you I had never given it a thought.
Love Renee xoxoxo
I like crab but it's almost more work than it's worth. Some of my favorite memories though are the times we went crabbing as kids with a piece of string, a weight and a stinky chicken neck. Scooping that crab up off the line with the net and trying to get it in the bucket before it scrambled out was always accompanied by shrieks and jumping around.
I can picture your Christmas table with all that cracking and clawing. Thank you for the intriguing tidbits to go with it. Anything that makes us more mindful is good to hear, Rosaria.
Crab is great but there is a price. Ten years ago I lost my coisin and his son to the Atlantic crab harvest.I love crab but it is hard to get fresh. You are lucky as are we by being next to the crab grounds. Good blog and one which makes us think when we enjoy that crab cake for lunch. Polar Bear
Not a fan of crab. Too much work, unless you're talking Alaskan King crab legs!
Once I had crab soup And yes, it is tasty but it is HOT specially for our climate.
You are right, and it is good to give thanks, i am glad my loved ones don't have this job, but i still worry for the fishermen who do.
Oh, I love anything connected with fresh crab. We consider ourselves quite lucky with daughter and significant other return from the coast with crab! Steve's (sig. other) mother lives right on the ocean .... they take a boat out and magically we eat like kings and queens!
Great post and perspective. I've not ever been a seafood person, but I have watched a few shows and realize/appreciate those who put their lives at risk for food.
Hope you have a good day!
I have never liked crab since having to dress it in a cookery lesson at school. We manage to have more than enough to eat without having crab on the menu.
Yes all sea foods are a delicacy. Land lubbers don't imagine however what getting it to their plates involve.
Unfortunately, as with any food productors, the guys smiling all the way to the bank are not those who fish, grow, breed or milk it.
Man, does that sound good. You live in a special place.
There was (is) a program that I used to watch on the Discovery Channel called, "Deadliest Catch". Basically, it was a documentary series following the events aboard fishing boats in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and Opilio crab fishing seasons. The danger under such extreme conditions was absolutely mind boggling and makes me wonder whether eating such delicacy's is worth men's lives. Somehow, I highly doubt it.
The combination of seafood and Christmas- I thought that was only in the Caribbean! The atmosphere of your post is so brisk...I hope the fishermen are safe.
Beautiful view...that ocean. Yes, I would imagine the life of a fisherman to be very fulfilling and extremely dangerous.
Wow! You are so lucky to live so close to the water. The idea of being able to see the boat lights at night during crab season sounds, well, romantic.
Thanks for sharing.
Great thing to remember. We are spending our 29th anniversary just down the road - Cannon Beach. We will have crab and be thankful for the delicious delicacy.
Crabs for Christmas, perfect! And what a great source you have. I always cook seafood on Christmas, along with maybe a baked ham for the meat lovers.
There is something about pounding crab...but it is a hard life. Good to be reminded (The Perfect Storm came immediately to mind). We should always acknowledge and be grateful for the real work that goes into the food we eat. Thank you.
yum yum yum!
Oh that ocean in the morning! Can you see it from your windows? Can you feel its smell?
Nature can be terrible, like terrible was beauty of the Homeric gods. Nature is overpowering, frightful, and man is small. And the poor crabs, they're even smaller.
Yes, the deadliest catch! I watched that series on Discovery Channel, too. Made me appreciate!! Love the idea of crab at Christmas...so like your early days in Italy?
When I lived Maryland there was quite a crab and lobster fishing industry working out of both Baltimore Harbor and in Chesapeake Bay.
I'd love to have crab, but have to be careful with shellfish as I have an iodine allergy. I can't pig out, but can tolerate small amounts.
Timely, interesting and beautifully conceived and written.
Have you watched that show, one of the cable channels, about deep sea fishing and crabbing? Very scary stuff.
My older is lived in Coos Bay a long time ago. I remember going to the docks and buying fresh oysters and grilling them. It was great.
Hi folks, thanks for stopping by.
As I write this on Tuesday morning, the wind is blustering at 40-50 miles per hour, the waves are pounding the surf and the rocks, and all that noise has kept us awake most of the night. If I had the skills, I could photograph this condition and let you experience it too. I don't. I won't. I'm inside, in a warm room, watching the surf from the comfort of my living room.
The beauty of the Ocean is constant; it is ever-changing, ever powerful. We also know our own limitations. We keep our distance in the winter months, a good distance.
I wanted you to know that fishermen go out there most days; rain or shine; in boats that tumble and sway with each wave. The job is dangerous beyond imagination.
At the end of the season, the Port Manager throws a town crab feast, (sponsored by the Rotary, proceeds to the schools' scholarship funds). The entire town, and surrounding neighbors come to the Community Center and sit down to all you can eat crab, cole slaw, baked beans and garlic bread. The Rotary nets over $8,000 for their scholarship fund, and they could easily double that if they had more crab. The tickets are sold out years in advance.
Crab is king here.
xoxooxox
I have caught crab, not Dungeness, and eaten what I caught. I wouldn't say it's bad, but it's not something I like all that much. I never thought about the crabbers and the hazards of their work, though. Thanks for enlightening me.
Thanks for the visit, also!
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