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Although the Tar Heel crabbing in¬
dustry is the youngest of the (our major
commercial lishcries in this State, it
has perhaps shown most relative prog¬
ress during the past 20 years and has
promise (or expansion in the immediate
future.
Today, it grosses around a million
dollars annually, has a payroll of about
500 workers and runs about six months
of the year. These figures represent
millions of pounds of raw crabs caught
each year in Tar llccl waters.
Well oscr three-fourths of the an¬
nual catch comes from Pamlico Sound
and its major tributaries, including
Neuse River. Pamlico River, Bay
River. Pungo River, and South River.
Pamlico. Hyde. Bcaufon and Carteret
are the four principal producing areas
with fully half of the processing taking
place in Pamlico County.
In social rating and public recogni¬
tion the crab still is a rather "lowly"
seafood and still is largely held in dis¬
taste or disdain bv its more up-and-
connng sister industries. Shrimpers
seem particularly to dislike crab, per¬
haps because they catch in their nets
so often the thorny, shell-like creatures.
Nevertheless, during laic year*, an
increasingly large proportion of the
annual income of shrimpers has come
from the crabs they so reluctantly catch
in their shrimping gear. For example,
during the past seven years shrimpers
have had only two really good years
(1948 and 1953) and the income they
derived from crabs — particularly dur¬
ing the lean year of 1954— came in
most handily.
There arc three principal methods of
catching crabs in Carolina waters, one
of which seems to be entirely excluded
from Tar Heel waters until during the
past few months (crab pots). Trawling
nets and "trot lines." the latter baited
with scrap raw meat, arc the two prin¬
cipal methods.
“Crab pots" arc small traps or boxes
made of small-mesh rabbit wire with
openings large enough to admit crabs,
and are baited with fresh fish. The
"pots" arc laid on the floor of the
streams while the trawling nets are
dragged through the water and the
“trot lines" arc stretched out over a
wide area and then passed over the
boat as it moves along.
It was about 1935 that first efforts
toward processing the crab were made.
Even then many were thrown away
after being caught; and not too many
were caught commercially.
About 1937 a Pamlico citizen. Fred
S. Whofton. opened in Oriental the first
processing plant in this area and the
first large processing plant in the State.
Whofton. the father of Fred A. Whor-
ton of Oriental and Julius W. Whorton
of Vandcmcrc who have followed him
in the business, stalled from the begin¬
ning and had to gather the "know-how,"
the equipment and the capital as he
developed the business.
Today there arc some eight or ten
plants in this State, with nearly half
of them being located in Pamlico
County. Bclhavcn in Hyde and Wash¬
ington in Beaufort— both Pamlico
Sound centers— are other leading proc¬
essing centers.
In Pamlico County, Oriental and
Vandcmcrc, where the Whorton broth¬
ers have their plants, arc the two
major centers. Kelly Watson operates
a plant at Lowland and Sheriff Robert
A. Whorton and Alston Whorton of
Florence operate a plant at Whortons-
vilk.
The crabbers do most of their catch¬
ing in the early morning hours shortly
after daybreak and usually the freshly-
caught crabs arc brought into port by
noon or shortly thereafter. They are
dumped into huge pressure cookers,
some of 1,000 pounds or more capac¬
ity, and are allowed to cook for about
20 minutes.
The steamed or cooked crabs are
allowed to cool, and shortly after mid¬
night. the crab “pickers" begin to
arrive. The crabs are dumped onto
huge tables and the "pickers" then
perform the actual operations of taking
the tasty, whitish meat from the fins,
claws and back or body of the crab.
Using specially-made, stainless steel
knives and bare-handed, the “pickers"
gather three types or kinds of crab
meat which they place in pound tin
cans. The choicest meat comes from
the large back fin or claw.
The cans arc hermetically sealed,
placed in ice packs, packed by the 100
pounds in barrels and are transported
by truck to the consuming centers.
Crabbers and processors are united
in their view that the future of the
crabbing industry is bright in this State.
Unlike oysters, shrimp and most types
of fish, instead of growing scarcities
in recent years, the crabbing industry
has witnessed a constant increase in
the annual catch.
THE STATE,
остоаса я.
loss
