Softshell Crab Season Has Arrived From Georgia!
The season's first catch of Wild Georgia Softshell Crab has arrived! They're making their West Coast debut at Water Grill.
THE START OF THE SEASON
Spring is a wonderful time. For starters, we get more daylight (and eventually recoup the hour of sleep lost at the start of Daylight Savings Time).
That means little to Mother Nature though: the world continues to turn, and tilt on its axis, bringing warmer weather to the Northern Hemisphere. It’s here, in the Mid-Atlantic, where we begin to reap those rewards. Watermen take to their boats off the coast of Georgia and the Chesapeake Bay and prepare their traps for the blue crab harvest.
As water temperatures rise, these blue crabs begin to molt and shed their shells. It’s at this moment when the live crabs are harvested – at the peak of tenderness.
Learn more about their journey – from blue shell to softshell, and from the country’s largest estuary to one of our favorite seasonal offerings – here.
ABOUT BLUE CRABS
Who says Latin is dead? The language tells us a lot. Exhibit A: the scientific name for blue crab is Callinectes sapidus, meaning beautiful savory swimmer.
These crabs propel themselves through the water using their back fins, or swimmerets. You’ll find this species all along the Atlantic Coast, down through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and even to some northern parts of South America.
HARVESTING
Blue Crabs live anywhere from three to four years and reach maturity around one year to 18 months. Growth is very dependent on temperature. Mating occurs from fall through the spring and, interestingly, females can only mate once during their life but can spawn multiple times.
Females, especially those carrying eggs, prefer higher salinity areas and often migrate towards the mouth of nearby rivers to spawn. Males prefer lower salinity waters and can often be found closer to river mouths and estuaries.
Most of the season’s harvesting will happen in late Spring as water temperatures warm and crabs prepare for their summer growth. This is often marked by the first full moon in May. In some cases, like what we’re seeing out of Georgia, the water warms as early as the beginning of April.
A COMING OF AGE
Softshell crabs are blue crabs. They’re harvested throughout the East Coast by commercial crabbers when the hardshell blue crabs are deemed to be peelers, or crabs that are ready to molt.
Watermen will look for signs, such as white, pink and red colors on the shells, to tell which crabs will molt, and when. In fact, a red outline, called a “red sign”, on the swimming fin indicates that a crab will molt in less than two days.
These crabs are then transferred to shedding tanks where they are monitored until they molt. The tanks are shallow, and the water temperature is carefully regulated to emulate the crab’s natural molting habitat.
Once a crab molts, it is removed from the shedding tank as soon as possible before the shell begins to harden (which can take as little as a few hours). It’s at this moment when a blue crab becomes a softshell crab. They’re then carefully packed and arrive to us daily – directly from pristine coastline of Georgia, straight to our restaurants.
this moment when a blue crab becomes a softshell crab. They’re then carefully packed and arrive to us daily – directly from the Chesapeake to our restaurants.
FLAVOR
Iconic, sweet and earthy, softshell crab delivers a crunchy, delicate bite with olive-like notes imparted from the shell.
At Water Grill, our Wild Georgia Softshell Crab is prepared tempura-fried, served with pickled plums, Belgian endive and our house XO sauce
All this softshell talk got you hungry for more? Check out our menus and make a reservation!
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Chilean Sea Bass: The Sea's Greatest Rebrand
It wasn’t that long ago that having Chilean Sea Bass on the menu could get you run out of town. After a history of illegal, unreported and unregulated (also known as IUU) fishing, seeing this fish on a menu in the 90s became frowned upon. Thankfully, times – and practices – have changed. Now, fishing of Chilean Sea Bass is closely managed and certified. In fact, the MSC-certified Chilean Sea Bass is one of the most popular items on the Water Grill menu.
From near-extinction and banishment to craving, this fish has undergone quite the rebrand, but it wasn’t the first time.
HOW THE CHILEAN SEA BASS GOT ITS NAME
The Patagonian Toothfish, or Antarctic Toothfish, was relatively obscure to the world market until 1977, when a seafood wholesaler from Los Angeles, Lee Lantz, “discovered” it off the coast of Chile. There, it was known locally as “bacalao de profundidad” or “cod of the deep” in English. The fish was not very popular (its original name didn’t help) and it was thought to be relatively worthless by many local fishermen. Lantz described it as having a high oil content and white, flaky flesh.
Knowing the U.S. market would be unfamiliar, and partially perturbed, with terms like bacalao or toothfish, Lantz realized it was prime for a rebranding. He dubbed it a sea bass, attaching “Chilean” as an exotic modifier to a familiar-sounding type of American fish. The “new” name wouldn’t be recognized by the FDA until 1994 when it accepted “Chilean Sea Bass” as an “alternative market name” to the Patagonian Toothfish.
A HISTORY OF OVERFISHING
Because of the cold waters it inhabits, the Chilean Sea Bass is a very slow-growing fish, taking them about eight years to reach sexual maturity. However, they can live up to 50 years and reach weights over 250 pounds. Because of its slow-growing nature, and due to its blossomed popularity after its so-called discovery in the late 70s, the Chilean Sea Bass was at risk of being overfished. And it was.
NOAA states that “in 2000, more than 16,000 tons of Chilean Sea Bass were legally harvested in the Antarctic management area. Estimates vary, but there may be up to twice that amount taken illegally.” Although some illegal fishing may still happen, careful management and certification are helping the populations stabilize and restaurants take comfort in the viability and sustainability of the products they serve.
ABOUT THE CHILEAN SEA BASS
The Chilean Sea Bass is a deep lurker, usually being found at depths of 1,000 to 11,000 feet in the cold-water-deep-sea trenches near continental shelves. They will move to shallower waters to feed, with their diet mostly consisting of squid, small fish, shrimp and other crustaceans.
WELL-MANAGED FISHERIES
At Water Grill, we make sure to only feature Chilean Sea Bass that come from a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified fishery. The MSC is an international organization that is committed to addressing the issues of overfishing throughout the world through fishery certification and seafood labeling. In addition to the MSC certification, all commercial fishing that is done in the immediate areas surrounding Antarctica, such as the Ross Sea, South Georgia Island, Herd Island, and other nearby areas, are managed by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Commission and the Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators (COLTO)
HOW WE PREPARE CHILEAN SEA BASS
Chilean Sea Bass has a rich, buttery flavor with dense and moist meat. At Water Grill, we serve MSC-certified Wild Ross Sea Bass seasonally paired with either a cauliflower puree or a butternut squash with sage brown butter. Hungry for more? Head here to check out our menus or make a reservation.
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