VETERAN 

 CRABBER 

 STILL 

 SETTING 

 THE PACE 



By Ann Green 



Photos by Michael Halminski 



A 



lis water circulates around dozens of 

 crabs in a white tank, Murray Bridges 

 scoops up a small crab. 



Then Bridges turns the crab over and 

 points to the red line on the back of the 

 peeler's paddle fin. 



"This crab is getting ready to shed," 

 says Bridges, a jovial man with twinkling 

 blue eyes. "I will take this crab out in a 

 couple of hours. Crabs usually shed in 

 three to four days." 



As a veteran shedder, Bridges knows 

 every telltale sign of an impending molt 

 — from the color changes on the 

 creature's paddle fin and apron to its 

 docile behavior. 



For more than 25 years, Bridges has 

 been tending peelers — crabs that are 

 about to shed their shells — at Endurance 

 Seafood Company in Colington. 



His operation includes catching, 

 shedding and shipping crabs as well as 

 fishing for perch, mullet, catfish and eel. 



Bridges is the largest crab shedder in 

 Dare County, according to North Carolina 

 Sea Grant extension program specialist 

 Wayne Wescott. 



"I sell more than 50.000 dozen soft 

 shell crabs a year," says Bridges. 



In North Carolina, blue crabs, 

 including soft and peeler crabs, are an 

 economically valuable fishery. From 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 35 



