Commercial Bait Supply

OK lads lets have it........

Word is that crab exporting is on the cards in the south east!!!!!!!!

I've heard no exact location or names as it appears very hush hush at the minute...

(mind you, where they are gonna find crab I ask you)

Anyone one else hear anything of the sort or was I dreaming?????

Regards,

Probably best if no names are mentioned or inferred in the public forum in relation to this. Thanks. :D

Crabs, particularly velvet, also known as the swimming crab, were being exported from Colla harbour (near Schull) many years back when I used to holiday in the area. I brought the kids to the harbour one morning to fish and there were guys loading a reefer with boxes and boxes of the crabs. The lads said they would be on sale two days later in Barcelona. I'd say this has been going on along the southern coasts all the time.

velvet swimmers are for sale in bray fish shop i think the local chinese eat them

I Know Big Bags of crabs (not the big red ones) have been spotted at ferrybank in wexford, after being unloaded from the trawlers!

What I heard is that shore crabs are being harvested in wexford harbour and exported for use in cosmetics.
They had to haul their baskets/posts whatever daily, but this is now down to once every two days.
I think these people had been harvesting whelks (not 100% sure on that) but it no longer commercially viable.

Velvets crabs are taken commercially from Strangford also, seen them being landed while diving.
Was in LIDL and seen them in the freezer! Not 100% sure but they were probably shipped half way around the world and back.
If you ask me commercial interest in one species results all to often in a decline of the rest.
Disgruntled conservationalist :x

Lads,

Every lobster/pot fisherman in Ireland has been catching velvet crabs and brown crabs commercially for at least 10 years.This is nothing new. Velvet crabs go mainly to spain where the locals eat them much the same way as we eat sandwiches. I have seen them myself.

Brown crab is targeted mainly in the north west by vivier boats that can hold tons of crabs at a time. I know one boat(vivier) that sends a 40ft container of live crab(brown) to France every week.

Green crab(hardback) is being sent from the south coast to france for making soup.

I have talked to fishermen who used to target lobster and crab would be a welcome bycatch. The same fishermen now target crab with a bycatch of lobster. Especially in the winter when lobster are scarce and brown crab plentiful.

Caz

they have been fishing green crab in larn lough for the past 20 years they go to spain where they are eaten