Tag Archives: SCDNR
Beaufort’s cherished blue crab is ‘mean as hell.’ But crabbers love catching them
“They’re a delicacy,” says Everett, a St. Helena Island-based commercial crab fisherman, “but they’re mean as hell.” South Carolina’s coastlines are dominated by vast salt marshes with dense stands of smooth cordgrass and oyster reefs drenched twice daily by tides up to 8 feet. It is a perfect habitat for delicious blue crab, that hide in the grass feeding on oysters, clams and snails — anything they can get their vicious claws on. Sometimes, the cantankerous crustaceans burrow into the mud with only their beady “eye stalks” visible lying in wait for a passing meal. But if they’re not careful, the crabs, an important link in the food chain, will become a meal themselves for birds and fish — or caught by crabbers like Everett. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:17