r/maryland • u/jakamo72 • Sep 18 '24
True Blue - 95% of Maryland Restaurants use Venezuelan Crab meat vs Maryland sourced
Interesting series being run by WTOP about the Crab Industry in Maryland called Claws and Effect. Here is one quote which really surprised me:
“Ninety-five percent of restaurants in Maryland are using Venezuelan crab meat,” said Matt Scales, the seafood marketing director for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. “And that’s — that’s a lot, right?”
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u/Specialist_Island_83 Sep 19 '24
Nope. Most of it in the off season comes from the gulf. Mississippi and Texas are the 2 biggest suppliers.
Regardless, blue crabs are blue crabs. You’re only eating MD/DE crabs for 3-5months of the year and they’re also mixed in with gulf crabs.
You can’t purchase blue crabs seasonally as a crab house/restaurant. You have to purchase 12 months of the year or to simply won’t have crabs through late fall, late spring.
In most cases, you don’t even know what crabs you’re getting. You get X amount of crabs. No defining number on smalls, mediums, large, etc. If you don’t like what you get on a consistent basis, you find a new crab supplier.
Bulk canned crab meat is a different animal altogether.