table talk / By Stephanie Silvia

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

Crab season continues, recipes from a crabber’s wife

(March 18, 2010)  Sure, the season’s past its peak. You’ve already satisfied that exquisite anticipation that begins to grow after Thanksgiving of savoring the first tasty morsel of succulent crab meat, but there’s more to come according to local fisherman Jeff Angelo. And lucky for us, living in Humboldt County we are in the mother lode, the middle of Dungeness crab central.

Being a crab fisherman is more than a vocation — it’s a way of life, and the North Coast is a good place to be if it’s in your blood. Far before the advent of our modern fishing fleet, from the Crescent City area on down the coast to Shelter Cove, the Tolowa, Yurok, Wiyot, Mattole and Sinkyone tribes traditionally harvested crab. In 1848, a year before the Gold Rush, a commercial fishery began when Italian immigrants in San Francisco brought crab to market. As many enterprises sprang up around the rush, their business increased as rapidly as the search for gold. Landings in Humboldt County are recorded as far back as 1889, with 86,400 pounds of crab caught that year.

Dungeness crab. Photo by Bob Doran.

GALLERY >

Fast-forward to 2010, fishing out of Eureka, Angelo, captain of the Chief Joseph, says he plans to “scratch it out” for weeks to come, which is good news for us. On one of his rare sunny afternoons off I went to the docks on Woodley Island to talk to Angelo about crabbing here in Humboldt. He was fixing a broken bilge pump that day and waiting for a diver to come and cut fishing line that was twisted up in the prop. These glitches — along with rough weather — are the only things that keep Jeff and his crew on land these waning days of winter.

Born in Brentwood, Angelo began fishing in 1986 after a stint in the Army. He started in Bodega Bay on the Becky, workingwith his brother, who still bears a tattoo of that boat’s name on his arm.

“I was living on the boat and the boat came up here,” Angelo explains. He then fished for legendary Eureka skipper Griff Savage from 1996-2005, taking over the worthy Chief Joseph when Savage passed away.

It’s not an easy way to make a living, that’s for sure, as I can testify from personal experience since my husband Scot, the son of a fisherman, is a member of Angelo’s crew. There are the good seasons, the bad seasons and the nonexistent seasons. So far, this has been a pretty good year in Eureka, a port with the added challenge of having to pass through the entrance of Humboldt Bay. “We can’t get out of here when the bar is breaking across the entrance. We have to go with the tide,” says Angelo. “At times constant breakers are coming across the jetties, white rolling breakers. You can’t go through some stuff. You’re rolling too violently to be safe.”

These days Angelo and his crew wait for the good weather, as the Chief Joseph continues to be catching a few. Scot has faith in Angelo, often exclaiming, “Cap is a good fisherman. He knows where the crab are,” although I am told to keep it quiet. It’s supposed to be a secret.

Angelo let me in on the definitive way to cook live crab. His wife Pam is certain the secret is seawater. Yes, he actually boils the crab on the boat in seawater and brings it home for dinner. If you don’t happen to have any seawater handy, add a handful of salt, or better yet, a cupful of rock salt per gallon of water (“It brings out the sweetness of the crab,” says Angelo). We sub Kosher salt, bring the salty water to a full boil, then add the whole live crabs, making sure they are submerged, bring the pot to a boil again and cook for 20 more minutes. While some suggest chopping the crab in half and pulling the back off before cooking, Angelo warns, “That is hard for the average person. I don’t back them. I think there is more flavor if you cook them whole.”

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