How Do Recreational Crabbers Keep Their Crab Alive?

[C-Money]

My family and I went crabbing this week. We got a few, and it was a lot of fun. We fished for a couple hours, and put the keepers in a bucket of water collected from the ocean. I was aware they probably were not going to last forever in the bucket of water, but checked on them from time to time and they all were still moving and kicking. Getting new salt water for them was not an option as where we fished it would be very hard to get close enough to safely get new water without losing crabs or falling in the water. Walked out to the car boiled some of the water we had them in. Picked up a crab, limp. His face/mouth was moving, and his legs gave little movement, but he was pretty lip. Same for a couple more of them. The ones on the bottom were still lively, and not limp. I'm pretty sure all the crab are safe to eat? Would a cooler with freshwater ice be a better option to keep crab alive for 2-4 hours? Do they breath while on the ice? If freshwater ice melts will it kill the crab? I know they go pretty dormant on ice. How do you guys keep crab alive when fishing?  I looked back in the archive and didn't find the answer I was looking for.

[fishngamereaper]

What you did is fine and probably the best option.
I have a live well on my boat but don't run it for crab. Just throw em in and add some water.
They slow down as you mentioned because of the stagnant water and lack of oxygen. But they can live a long time..ice bath also works and will keep them fresh.

[CP]

Keep them cool and moist and they can live for over 24 hours out of water.  But if you keep them in water, they will quickly use up all the oxygen and drown.   

[Smokepole]

put them in a fish box or cooler with a big wet bath towel over them.  Keeps them cool, and keeps them from destroying each other while you fish.  Ever couple hours, dunk the towel if it's hot outside.  Works great, and they live until you get home.

[Tbar]

Keep them cool and moist and they can live for over 24 hours out of water.  But if you keep them in water, they will quickly use up all the oxygen and drown.

Water is the worst way to keep them alive if you don't have air. Keep them wet and cool,  bring your sea water for cooking in separately.

[C-Money]

We are going to eat the crabs today with some fresh home grown ribeyes and some of last years king salmon....Can't wait!

[Alchase]

I just used one specific cooler for fish or crab. Then just put some use in the bottom. They would last for hours, long enough to get them home to cook.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

CP ant T Bar are right on. Better to keep them out of the water than put them in a small amount of water with no circulation.  I know of commercial boats who have keep their crab in baskets that look like a very tall crab pot. on deck while fishing.  Then if they aren't delivering right away, they hang them overboard until they are ready to deliver. 

[C-Money]

They were sure delicious and no one got sick...I will gladly take advise from here for next time!!

[Sneaky]

crab commercially caught in puget sound are shipped to China alive in styrofoam boxes with a few gel ice packs and no water. Best way to keep them during recreational harvest is on top of ice in a cooler with a wet rag/burlap on top...enough to keep them moist and cold but not drown them in oxygen depleted water.

[pianoman9701]

A lot like lobsters. Get a bunch of seaweed to line the bottom of a box/cooler. Put the crabs in and cover them with more seaweed and ice. They'll last for a couple of days if you allow the melt to drain.

[Tight Spin]

I to use the ice method. i put ice in the bottom of cooler add crabs and alot of time i use wet newspaper over top. towels work great also

[dilleytech]

A crab placed on top of ice in a ice chest will live 24 hours no problem. The worst thing you can do is try to keep them alive in a bucket of water.

[Stein]

If we're on our way back to the dock after crabbing I just keep them in a 5 gallon bucket with water.

I also put an aerator in the front fish box on our boat since I never put anything in there anyway.  It does double duty for flounder during lingcod season.

You can get cheap aerators for bait buckets if you wanted to or just use ice as mentioned.

[Skillet]

I'm late to this one but I've kept crab alive out for 2 full days by using the ice on the bottom of the cooler (keep drain open), lay in a layer of crab, then a wet towel over the top of them, with another layer of ice on top of the towel. They'll be lively at first if you don't ice them down beforehand, but once you get them down to temp they are pretty dormant.

Anytime I've tried to keep crab alive in any water other than a circulating livewell in saltwater they have died pretty quick.