With the Mississippi River reaching historic lows this year, the supply of Louisiana blue crabs should be on the upswing. But that’s not the case.
In fact, production is down by 20 to 30 percent by some estimates, and those in the business aren’t sure why.
Trudy Luke, owner of Luke’s Seafood, ships live crabs to wholesalers, retail stores and restaurants. Photo: GCR and Associates, Inc.
Trudy Luke, owner of Luke’s Seafood, ships live crabs to wholesalers, retail stores and restaurants. She takes fresh catches from fishermen and grades or sorts every crab by gender and size to determine which of her customers each will go to.
One of her specialties is soft-shell crabs. As she sorts through the crabs, she pulls out the “busters,” those that are molting or are about to molt, and places them in a separate tank. She checks on them every few hours – even through the night – and pulls them out as soon as they shed their outer shell for packaging and freezing.
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