Tanner crabs live in the cold waters of the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They are known by many names, including "snow crabs" and "spider crabs." In Canada, they are known as "queen crabs." Tanner crabs are two of four kinds of Chionoecetes species crabs: the bairdi and the opilio. Bairdi are heavier. They weigh three to five pounds compared to one and a half to two and a half pounds for opillo. Both are short tailed and long legged. They can live to be 14 years old and do not have spines like king crabs do. They tend to congregate in groups segregated by size and gender, which may be a good strategy for younger males when they molt or shed their skin. When masses of crabs molt at the same place and time, predators won't be able to pick them all off. Of course, this strategy does not necessarily protect them from being caught by us to eat. Read on to learn catch them yourself.
Instructions
1. Travel to the regions in which tanner crabs live. The United States crab fishery industry is largely based out of Alaska even though some tanner crabs range the Eastern Pacific as far south as California. Canadian tanner crabs are fished across that nation's Atlantic provinces--in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
2. Buy a biodegradable crab pot or crab trap with a bycatch reduction device so that it does not entangle and incidentally kill other sea life, too. Having this device will also prevent the trap from "ghost fishing," or continuing to trap crabs and other sea life if you lose it while crabbing. This is very important because crab traps and pots are made with far more durable materials than nets. If you lose or pot, it can ghost fish for a long time. Its bait or lost catch will attract scavengers, who will die and attract more scavengers indefinitely. Those scavengers may be commercially important, either as a catch of their own or as food for another catch. See the resources below to learn make your own bycatch reduction device.
3. Familiarize yourself with the sport license requirements for whatever state you are crabbing from. In Alaska, you do not need a license for tanner crabs; but you do need one for king crabs and salmon. If you catch either accidentally, you will need to throw it back into the water unless you have a license. If you are crabbing in Oregon, you need a license for dungenous crabs. See the Alaska and Oregon Department of Fish and Game websites listed in the Resources below for more information.
4. Select the right bait to lure tanner crabs into your crab pot or trap. You can use almost any kind of meat for bait. Many people use chicken or turkey necks and backs, which attract crabs but not sea lions. Fresh fish carcasses also work; but do not use cabezon fish, which are crabs' natural enemy.
5. Know which crabs you should keep once you pull in your crab pot or trap. Only keep adult male crabs. Throw back female and small crabs. The underside of female crabs looks like the U.S. Capitol building; the underside of male crabs looks like the Washington Monument. Also, throw back crabs with soft shells, which are crabs who have not fully formed another shell after molting. These crabs retain more water; the meat is mushy. You can tell if you have caught a soft shelled crab if the shell gives easily when you pinch on of its large walking legs.
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