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Old 02-15-2010, 07:51 PM   #1
Everdai
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Sandcrabs

Someone on here posted that sand crabs taste like crunchy shrimp if you squeeze out the guts and bake them... I've found out that you can find them by seeing the bubble streams and their antenna and that when you find one there are usually more around.

In about how much water do you usually find them?
What time of year and what time of day is best to look for them?
Anybody know of some San Diego beaches with loads of them?
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Old 02-15-2010, 07:54 PM   #2
oceanhunter1
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Re: Sandcrabs

They are everywhere along sandy beaches, you should have no problems finding them.
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Old 02-15-2010, 08:00 PM   #3
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Re: Sandcrabs

stand just so the water reaches past you as the wave comes in let the wave run past you as it goes out and you should see the little buggers rolling down the beach or trying to dig back in. Get a shovel or your fin tip and take a scoop of sand and toss it up a little higher on the beach and they will be attempting to dig back in all over.

I have never tried to eat one. I just use them for perch bait rubber lips love them.
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Old 02-15-2010, 08:10 PM   #4
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Re: Sandcrabs

dude. really? don't eat sandcrabs.
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Old 02-15-2010, 08:11 PM   #5
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Re: Sandcrabs

I've eaten them here in FL after reading this post by a friend.

http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=72091


It's a crunchy shrimp but no meat. Me and a friend ate a bunch then we both got a buzz, must be the iodine, drugs that wash up on shore over here, or something else. I used a bucket with holes in it to strain the sand.

They are pretty hard to spot at first unless you have someone show you what to look for. Once you know what to look for you can catch a ton. They sense vibrations so you don't look for them right around you. You have to spot them and ambush them quickly.

Look for a fisherman on shore he'll know how to catch them.
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Old 02-15-2010, 08:30 PM   #6
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Re: Sandcrabs

Here is a link I got this answer off yahoo answers do not know for sure.

I found another board that talked about that show bizzar foods with andrew zimmerman and he was in Pucket and they served them there. It was discribed the same as you did.

Since they are filter feeders I do not think I would try them too close to a city or river in so cal and not during a red tide. Up north I might give it a try less DDT and less polution depending on location


http://www.farallones.org/documents/sandcrab.pdf

NNOOOO!!!!!!! If you live in southern CA is this the crab you speak of:
http://www.farallones.org/documents/sand…

It can kill you so please check this website!

Sand crabs are used by humans in a variety of ways.
They are used as bait by fishermen. In southern
California, approximately two million Emerita were
taken for bait in one year. They have also been used to indicate levels of DDT and domoic acid in the waters
off of California. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced
by diatoms, a type of phytoplankton. When sand crabs
eat the toxic plankton they become toxic to birds, otters,
and fish that eat them.

If you live off another coast it's a different crab, try and find an image of it on the different search engines and it will tell you if the variety you oicked is edible. Good thing you asked first!
Source(s):
http://www.farallones.org/documents/sand…
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Old 02-15-2010, 08:53 PM   #7
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Re: Sandcrabs

I grew up shore fishing, and sand crabs make great bait(and they don't make your hands stink)

The best areas to find them is on long sandy beaches, away from rocks.....del mar....Blacks....

As the waves wash over the sand....as the water goes back to sea....look in the channels that are created when the water goes back in the ocean....these areas will be the last ones with water.....At that point if they are there you should see them....They make a little V shaped ripple in the sand......If you see them....There should be quit a few....They are usually around the same size in the same area......So if they are small....just keep walking down the beach.
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Old 02-15-2010, 09:18 PM   #8
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Re: Sandcrabs

Here is a link with a photo of zimmerman eating "Sea Cicada" Mole Crabs.

I have not seen the show yet.

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Show...how_Phuket?s=6
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Old 02-15-2010, 10:52 PM   #9
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Re: Sandcrabs

I'd have to advise against eating sandcrabs as well unless of course you are starving to death.
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Old 02-15-2010, 11:26 PM   #10
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Re: Sandcrabs

seriously, c'mon. sandcrabs?
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Old 02-16-2010, 01:05 AM   #11
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Re: Sandcrabs

haha yeah seriously sand crabs, I really like trying new things and I saw a guy post that they tasted like crunchy shrimp... thought I'd give it a shot. I knew they were filter feeders but the prep I read said to squeeze all the guts out, so I figured it would be like eating scallops, they're filter feeders too, we just don't eat the guts.
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Old 02-16-2010, 02:00 AM   #12
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Re: Sandcrabs

The winter is really hitting you hard man...
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Old 02-16-2010, 03:15 AM   #13
Everdai
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Re: Sandcrabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterman07 View Post
The winter is really hitting you hard man...
...yeah, it's true.
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Old 02-16-2010, 04:19 PM   #14
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Re: Sandcrabs

id try it, hell i eat limpets
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Old 02-16-2010, 04:39 PM   #15
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Re: Sandcrabs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterman07 View Post
The winter is really hitting you hard man...


Seriously though. Within the past few months I've eaten new and delicious things I have never even considered before. I don't know about sand crabs though. Up here they are pretty small and there are so many more delicious critters in the tidal zone that I would go for first.
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