Blue Crab Season

[Anchor Lead]

Blue crabs are in season, and the spring catch is coming in. In fact, this year’s catch is expected to be much larger than last year’s. Here’s a look.

[Pkg]

In the early hours at Incheon Port, a crab fishing vessel returns through the fog.

[Soundbite] "One, two..."

The boat is full of blue crabs caught at South Korea’s five northwestern islands. The fishermen, who suffered their worst harvest last year, are full of smiles.

[Soundbite] Jung Choon-sik(Boat Captain) : "The crabs are full of eggs so they will be quite a delicacy when steamed."

At the break of day, an auction begins for the fresh crabs at a joint market. 18,000 blue crabs that were just caught are sold in the auction. The amount of blue crabs expected to be caught in waters off Incheon this spring is estimated to total up to 2,000 tons, or double the amount posted last year. The large catch comes as the water temperature remained at an optimum level last winter with no major cold snaps recorded and thanks to the surge in plankton, which crab feed on, that resulted from abundant rainfall.

[Soundbite] Han Yong-bok(Auctioneer) : "Last year, blue crabs were expensive because not many were caught. This year, the catch is expected to surge between 30 and 40 percent compared to last year."

Retailers have launched efforts to actively sell the crabs to customers, featuring various discounts.

[Soundbite] Kim Seung-tae(Marine Products Buyer) : "This year, much larger blue crabs are coming out in big numbers. Large blue crabs tend to have more eggs and meat."

This year, many are expected to be able to enjoy fresh blue crabs at inexpensive prices.