Capturing 

 Crabs 

 Alone the 

 Carolina 

 Coast 



By Sarah Friday Peters 



The March morning wind blows 

 cold against Russell Howell's ruddy 

 face as he steers his 24-foot skiff 

 down Pettifords Creek toward White 

 Oak River. 



"We don't have to go far away 

 from home to work," the crabber 

 says, as he maneuvers through the 

 reedy wetlands between his home 

 and the open river. His companion, 

 Mad Dog, paces quietly across the 

 boat as blue herons ahead take flight 

 in the morning sun. 



By 8:30 a.m., the air remains a 

 cool 40 degrees — too cold to catch 

 many crabs. 



"We'll be working in the channel 

 today," Howell says. "Most of the 

 crabs today will be in deep water 

 because of the weather." 



As crab fishermen like Howell 

 learn, weather and the seasons chart 

 the cycles of their work on the water. 

 The intricate mesh of sun and tides, 

 winds and water temperatures 

 determine the place and time blue 

 crabs in North Carolina become 

 ready for catching. To most, success 

 in the fishery, one of the state's 

 largest, comes in reading nature's 

 clues and following its ebbs and 

 flows. 



North Carolina's coastal rivers, 



2 MAY/JUNE 1992 



