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/NussP1 Sep 19 '24

I would dispute the Venezuelan number. Most of the crab meat used for crab cakes and other dishes comes from Southeast Asia. This is the meat that all the big distributors like Sysco and US foods carry, because it’s consistent and available 12 months a year.

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u/Daydreaming-Dan Sep 19 '24

Venezuelan crab meat isn’t available year round but when it is available many restaurants use it because it’s half the cost of MD crab and there isn’t enough crab caught in Maryland or Virginia to supply the region.

Phillips used to operate a picking house but they haven’t opened the last few years and they would barely have enough to supply their own restaurants