live crabs

[dodgersfan25]

anyone know of a seafood market (probably an asian one) in the san fran or oakland area that sells small live crabs? its for a bimac octopus that i will be recieving soon. wanted to stock up and find a good food source. thanks.

 

[andyman]

Your better off just going down to the beach.. Look around the rocks and you'll find a ton. Probably setup a small trap cuz those suckers are always hungry.

 

[dodgersfan25]

what beach do you recommend? where can i even find them? just hiding on the rocks?

 

[andyman]

sorry beach is a bad word. Check around the rocky areas in the bay. Basically any area that is coastal and has a lot of rocks. They tend to hide there. Beaches offer little protection to most crabs (although you do find some crabs that can dig and live in the sand). maybe check the harbors so your in a protected area away from the waves. If all that seems intimidating buy hermit crabs. To bad you don't dive around here, you can just go collect them I think.

 

[zivic2play]

I've seen plenty of crabs in the rocky area near the ferry docks in Sausalito.

 

[dodgersfan25]

do you think the less than prestine bay area water quality will be harmful though?

 

[tuberider]

Princeton Breakwall is loaded with crabs, the water quality is pretty good as well.

 

[dodgersfan25]

and where would this princeton breakwall be located?

 

[dodgersfan25]

is that in san mateo?

 

[Mel-E-Mel]

you should check out the tide pools in monterey......i think it was pebble beach.......lots of tidepools with cool crustacian and stuff.

 

[dodgersfan25]

yeah did that once when i went to the aquarium, but def wont drive down there just for that haha

 

[Thales]

If you are in Oakland, check out Mikes bait. They sell 'grass shrimp' that I have been feeding to cuttlefish and octos for the last year or so. Pretty cheap, but keeping them alive over time can be problematic because they need lots o2 and generally cooler water. I have an entire system
Shore crabs make good food for cephs, hemigrapsis I believe, and they can be found anywhere that is rocky around the bay. You'll basically need to find a spot close to you that works - if you want to go to Alameda let me know, and I'll send you where I used to collect.
Without a study, there is no way to know if the local foods are bad, especially with short live animals like cephs. I have found much better growth rates with the shrimp over the crabs.
Also - you should be able to easily wean your bimac onto fresh food shrimp. Check out www.TONMO.com for lots of ways to do this and what to look for in purchasing shrimp from the grocery store for cephs.

 

[dodgersfan25]

oh thanks thales. a lot of good info there!

 

[Qwiv]

Don't you need a bait permit to collect crabs at the shore?

 

[Thales]

Permits have been explained to me different ways. Last I was told, if you weren't commercially collecting, you didn't need a permit. Before that I was told you needed a fishing permit. I've never been bothered.

Oh - the shore crabs can be hard to keep alive long term too.

 

[dodgersfan25]

yeah i figured that they wouldnt fare too long, but how long CAN i expect them to live for? a week or two?

 

[Thales]

It depends on how you keep them and how often you change the water. I kept them in a plastic drawer with a couple of aquaclear foam blocks, and I changed the water and fed the crabs ever couple of days.

 

[Mr2KiEu]

go to berkeley pier, along the rocks theirs tons. i used to go out there as a kid and mess around, TONS of crabs there, or san leandro marina has them too.

 

[650-IS350]

Just go crabing with a crab net or pot at PACIFICA PIER.