Tag Archives: Delaware Bay

Delaware: Hungry for holiday crabs? Better get out the wallet – “best price that we’ve gotten for crabs in 26 years,,,”

This year’s crabbing season didn’t start out quite so hot for Smyrna’s Brian Hoffecker, Thankfully for Mr. Hoffecker, along with many other commercial crabbers in Delaware, things didn’t stay that cold for too long. With Independence Day coming up Saturday “This weekend is a holiday,” said Mr. Hoffecker. “I’ll tell you what, this will be my 26th year or something on my own (crabbing) and this is the best price that we’ve gotten for crabs in 26 years. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the coronavirus or with the restaurants being shut down,,, >click to read< 17:25

Winter Blue Crab season starts

Fresh blue claw crab is available for retail purchase at the Belford Seafood Cooperative in Middletown. The commercial dredge season for blue claw crab started Thursday and the first harvests have been reaped from crab grounds in Sandy Hook Bay and elsewhere. The Dutch Girl returned about noon to the co-op dock with its haul of about a couple dozen bushels of crab — a mix of females, small and large males. About eight co-op boats in total crabbed on opening day. While a portion of the crab harvest loaded at the co-op will be trucked out to other markets and restaurants, plenty will be kept for retail sale at the Belford seafood market counter. The crab dredge season goes from Dec. 1 through March 31, (except in Delaware Bay where the season is Nov. 15 through April 15). Short video, Read the story here 19:48

Crabbing Boat Crew Rescued from Delaware Bay

overturned boat delaware bayThe three-man crew of a commercial crabbing boat was rescued Thursday afternoon by members of the Leipsic, Little Creek and Bowers fire companies, the US Coast Guard, DNREC officers and the Delaware State Police. The effort began at about 3:38 p.m. April 28 when the Kent County Emergency 911 Center received a call about the boat, which had not returned as scheduled. The boat last had been seen around noon off Port Mahon, said Little Creek Volunteer Fire Company Chief Michael Bundek. Weather conditions were poor, with four- to five-foot seas,, Read the rest here  and here 14:51

Blue crabs poised to make comeback in Delaware – Oysters problematic

Last spring and summer, crabs were in short supply, and combined with other factors, prices for them peaked at more than $300 a bushel. Crabs are a summer delicacy in Delaware, but last year’s prices meant many restaurants and consumers had to cut back – and in some cases do without. But there is good news growing in the sands of the Delaware and other nearby waterways: The crabs are coming back. Delaware’s projected forecast for the 2016 blue crab harvest is just over 4 million pounds, up 1 million pounds from last year’s projection. That should be good news both for the state’s commercial fishers and for consumers. Read the article here 12:42

Commercial fisherman John Moore – Commercial Crabber

While others still sleep, commercial fisherman John Moore, of Magnolia, wakes up at 3 a.m. and heads east to Bowers Beach and his boat, the Bay Bee Lynne. “To me it’s my life, it’s what I like to do,” Moore said.  “I do it because I love it.  And like I told you it’s like a curse.  Once a man does it he can’t do anything else like a normal job.  You pretty much do what you want to do, nobody bothers you.  Working normal jobs just doesn’t work for me.” For 27-years, Moore’s office has been the Delaware Bay,,, Read the rest here 07:16