creek and sound edges. But netting the soft-bodied 

 crustaceans was back-breaking labor 



Bridges substituted concrete vats for wooden trays, 

 placed the vats on concrete block legs and filled them 

 with brackish water pumped from a nearby creek. 



"Everybody said it wouldn't work," he says. "But I 

 couldn't see why it wouldn't." 



The onshore system worked fine, and it wasn't long 

 before Bridges began to expand his operation— six shed- 

 der bins, 10, 16. . . . 



Today, Bridges fills 145 vats with peelers during May, 

 the prime shedding month. 



And with so many vats to fill, Bridges no longer has 

 time to catch his own peelers during May. He buys 

 peelers for 30 cents apiece from crabbers within a 

 100-mile radius. 



Single-handedly, Bridges has created a market for 

 peeler crabs in Dare County. 



In one day last year, Endurance Seafood Co. handled 

 over 23,000 peelers; in one week, over 120,000. 



When the vats brim with peelers, the hands of Bridges, 

 his wife, his two sons, his daughter, his sister-in-law and 

 his children's spouses work feverishly to handle peelers 

 and soft crabs. 



During May, the family works 24 hours a day. 



Crabs can shed at any time but seem to prefer the 

 night. And they're at their peak softness for just a few 

 hours. If not removed from the water then, their shells 

 will harden and their value decreases. 



So Bridges and his family maintain a 24-hour vigil over 

 the shedder vats, waiting to scoop up the spongy crusta- 

 ceans. Some nights the crabs molt as fast as the family 

 can scoop. 



Bridges says he shed over 1,100 dozen crabs in one 

 night last spring. 



"During May you don't talk to nobody around here," he 

 says. "They'll bite your head off. 



"It takes the long hours though. That's why everybody 

 doesn't get into it." 



But if the hours are long, at least the profits are good. 



During the last weeks of April before crabs shed on the 

 Chesapeake, Bridges can receive $17 to $18 a dozen for 

 soft crabs. But when the Chesapeake supplies arrive at 

 market, prices drop as low as $8.50 a dozen for jumbo 

 soft crabs. 



But before you start multiplying $8.50 by 1,100 dozen. 

 Bridges says to consider the costs. 



They include peelers, electricity, packing materials and 

 salaries. And, of course, there were the investments he 

 made in vats, pumps, PVC pipe, hose, lights and a fi^-eezer 

 "You have to turn a lot of crabs to make money," he says. 



But for prospective soft crabbers. Bridges spells out the 

 costs and benefits. Folks have come from as far away as 

 Mississippi and Texas to view his operation and take his 

 advice. 



"So often people think you have to have just the right 

 water, just the right temperature," he says. "They're 

 intimidated. 



"But when they see what I got here they know they can 

 do it too. You can shed crabs in bathtubs, buckets or 

 tubs if you have to." 



As long as Bridges can draw a breath, he'll be inter- 

 ested in the blue crab. He admits that watching the 

 clawed crustaceans shed their shells holds a special 

 fascination. 



"I'll shed crabs until I die," Bridges says. "I want to 

 gradually turn the business over to the boys. But my wife 

 says I'm too nosy to stay away from the shedder trays. 



"The boys want me to devote all my time to selling. But 

 I tell them that I want to see those crabs shed." • 



