When the peeler run starts in the Chesapeake Bay, the entire crab population is more focused on mating than food. Therefore, you can put all the bait you want in a crab pot, but the crabs will not enter. During the shed, each male finds a partner, production from crab potters comes to a standstill, and picking houses are desperately seeking raw material to pick. That’s the scene we witnessed during Mother’s Day week and most of the following week. Ironically, our local picking houses source their crabs all the way from Louisiana, bringing them to Maryland for processing during times like these.
5/22/23
