OF all the seafood available to us I enjoy a good feed of blue swimmer crabs more than anything else.
Crumbed calmari, mud crabs, fresh prawns, lobster mornay and battered fish are all hard to beat.
However, if I am forced to select one, it would be a blue swimmer crab.
For cooking, add half a handful of salt to a pot of water before bringing it to the boil.
Drop the crabs in and wait for the water to come back to the boil before setting your timer on seven to eight minutes.
Remove the crabs and immediately lower them into cold water which will stop the cooking process.
Cool the crabs in the fridge before setting in a bowl in the middle of the table – then it is everyone for themselves. Here is a little trick I was told by a professional crab trapper – add 1/3 cup of white vinegar to the boiling pot.
This, I’m told, will stop the crab meat from becoming too soft.
How lucky are we that we have a ready supply of blue swimmers throughout the port from Shoal Bay to Lemon Tree Passage and then on to the upper reaches of Tilligerry Creek and the Karuah River.
North Arm Cove and Pindimar are great places to set your crab traps.
The current rules governing crabbing in Port Stephens differ from other regions, in that you are not permitted to use “witches hats” or any trap with an entry over 32cm in width.
These local rules are in place to protect our local turtle population, a gathering of mainly green turtles that arrive on the ocean currents and choose to live in Port Stephens.
Taronga researchers tell us that our population numbers between 200-500 turtles which gather mainly west of Soldiers Point.
It is our responsibility to care for these marine creatures by avoiding illegal methods of trapping crabs and by responsible boating by travelling at a steady pace.
Port Stephens is not a racetrack for boats and jet skis.
By John ‘Stinker’ CLARKE
