I have spent many hours catching (and eating) Paddle Crabs (Ovalipes catharus) when staying ar my house in Stephens Bay. Over the years I perfected techniques in catching and cooking these.
Here are the details for catching and cooking the beasts as there are few of them left now following the proliferation of snapper who also enjoy eating them.
looked up catching and cooking them on the internet and saw some very poor techniques used. Using a drag net or spear is hopeless. When fishing close to the coast crabs sometimes take the bait. When pulling them up to the boat, they let go of the bait when they break the surface of the water. If you give them a flick as they approach the boat they fly into the lap of boat passengers as the crab lets go the bait. Very amusing. Catching a net full in a net is not very good as they are difficult to get out of the net and they are still very active. They are best removed from the net by driving a tractor over them to crush the shells.
I performed my crab harvest from my dinghy (named Dinghy McDingface) powered by an outboard motor. Initially I had an engine with a reverse gear and neutral t but it was later replaced with a 2hp with only a forward gear. The bigger engine with gears was much better for crab fishing allowing me to get directly over the ring net. I went crab fishing at the edge of the estuary beyond the outlet of the Riwaka River at Big Rock, I would catch them at the top of the tide when there is little water flow into the estuary.
Comercial fishermen set cage pots along a line of the estuary edge from the outlets of the Motueka to the Riwaka Rivers. I caught mine using a pair of ring nets / pull pots. These are made by lashing used trawler netting to a circular ring made from steel reinforcing rod. Initially the netting was lashed on with twine but nylon cable ties can be used. Bait is put into a bag made of “gutter guard” tied to the center of the net, Oily fish is good bait, especially salmon. Dog saus and squid bait is not ‘good bait. The ring nets need no raised edges. The crabs stay on the net by it’s speed when pulled up. The ring is held by three ropes around its perimeter and then a rope to a float at the surface, Two nets are usually enough – one attracts the crabs while the second is pulled up. The dinghy is manoeuvred directly above the nes which is then pulled up. The large crabs are kept while the
smaller ones are released. After this I shift to the second net and repeat the process. In the plentiful days I would catch a fish case of crabs in a hour.
Cooking Paddle Crabs
Paddle Crabs are delicious to eat. A large paddle crab has about as much meat on it as a minimum legal crayfish (60mm across the tail spines) but is much tastier. About October each year they moult. The moulted crabs look very clean, Those prior to moulting have dirty looking shells. The dirty ones are much nicer to eat than the newly moulted ones. These clean ones have soft tasteless flesh. If you are offered crab at this time of year, always choose the dirty shelled ones. There are a few tricks in cleaning Paddle Crabs. Firstly, only take the large beasts. The smaller ones yield much less flesh for the same amount of work and they are more active with their pinchers. I like to bleed crabs. Live crabs die much quicker and can then be handled. Bleeding them is performed with a thin pointed knife through the belly. Clear liquid escapes. This (probably) is blood. If this is not done stored crab flesh develops black bits the following day. This does not affect the taste but the product looks better without black bits. The next step is to remove the top shell. This is a harder task on uncooked crab. Lift the shell from the back edge. Take off the mouth parts and the gills. Scratch out the gut. The meat in the crab legs is thin and difficult to extract. Cut the legs off with secateurs and discard them. However the pincers have a decent sized meat portion which is very tasty so they can be left on However the shell over them is thick and strong. I have a special pair of pliers to crack them open. The crabs can now be broken in two down the middle. The crab is now ready for cooking.
I have tried cooking crab in the microwave and by steaming. Neither of these methods are worthwhile. Boiling in salted water is the preferred method. Whole crab stinks when boiled but cleaned crab does not and can be cooked inside without complaints. A large container of water is brought to the boil and the crab portions are put in. Double the amount of crabs can be put in if the legs are removed, Another reason for removing them. The container (with lid on) is then brought back to boiling and boiled for about two minutes (even if the internet says 10 or 15 minutes) and the boiling water is tipped out and the crab cooled in cold water. The crab is dried out before chilling it in the refrigerator.
Remember these instructions if paddle crabs become plentiful again. I gave up catching them some ten years ago when it took me 1½ hours to catch a measly six crabs of a size that I would previously not have kept. I don’t think there are any commercial crab fishermen left.
