so-called "processing" was complete. 

 The 1 -pound containers of crab were 

 then ready for market, usually in 

 northern cities such as Baltimore, 

 Philadelphia and New York. 



Some processors invested in the 

 equipment needed to pasteurize crab 

 meat. Others bought machines to 

 extract the small bits of meat found in 

 the claw and other compartments of the 

 body cavity. Called machine or minced 

 meat, this crab was sold cheaply for use 

 in stuffings and deviled crab. 



Despite these attempts at mechani- 



industry is being forced to change. 



What's forcing the revolution? 



Pure and simple economics — the 

 laws of supply and demand. 



Harold Stephenson, owner of the 

 Washington Crab Co., says the crab 

 industry is overproducing product. This 

 overabundance of crab meat is driving 

 wholesale prices down and making it 

 hard for processors to survive in an 

 industry saddled with high labor costs 

 and low yields per pound of raw 

 product. 



Stephenson estimates that each 



Inside a crab processing plant. 



zation, the mainstay of the North 

 Carolina blue crab processing industry 

 continued to be the handpicked meat 

 sold in 1 -pound tubs. 



There was no fancy equipment, 

 little automation and no new product 

 forms. The processing was labor- 

 intensive and seasonal, lasting from 

 May to November. 



But the crab houses made a profit, 

 stayed in business and turned out pound 

 after pound of crab meat. 



Now, however, after years of 

 complacency, the blue crab processing 



pound of meat he sells costs him $3.50 

 in labor. That doesn't include the cost 

 of the live crustaceans he must buy 

 from crabbers. 



Processors pay watermen, on 

 average, 22 to 25 cents per pound, 

 according to statistics from the N.C. 

 Division of Marine Fisheries. During 

 peak summer supplies, the price drops 

 to 15 cents a pound. 



That seems cheap. But it takes 100 

 pounds of hard crabs to yield 7 to 8 

 pounds of cooked, picked meat. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 13 



