. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. creek and sound edges. But netting the soft-bodied crustaceans was back-breaking labor Bridges substituted concrete vats for wooden trays, placed the vats on concrete block legs and filled them with brackish water pumped from a nearby creek. "Everybody said it wouldn't work," he says. "But I couldn't see why it wouldn'; The onshore system worked fine, and it wasn't long before Bridges began to expand his operation—six shed- der bins, 10, 16. . Today, Bridges fills 145 vats with peeler
. Coast watch. Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology. creek and sound edges. But netting the soft-bodied crustaceans was back-breaking labor Bridges substituted concrete vats for wooden trays, placed the vats on concrete block legs and filled them with brackish water pumped from a nearby creek. "Everybody said it wouldn't work," he says. "But I couldn't see why it wouldn'; The onshore system worked fine, and it wasn't long before Bridges began to expand his operation—six shed- der bins, 10, 16. . Today, Bridges fills 145 vats with peelers during May, the prime shedding month. And with so many vats to fill, Bridges no longer has time to catch his own peelers during May. He buys peelers for 30 cents apiece from crabbers within a 100-mile radius. Single-handedly, Bridges has created a market for peeler crabs in Dare County. In one day last year, Endurance Seafood Co. handled over 23,000 peelers; in one week, over 120,000. When the vats brim with peelers, the hands of Bridges, his wife, his two sons, his daughter, his sister-in-law and his children's spouses work feverishly to handle peelers and soft crabs. During May, the family works 24 hours a day. Crabs can shed at any time but seem to prefer the night. And they're at their peak softness for just a few hours. If not removed from the water then, their shells will harden and their value decreases. So Bridges and his family maintain a 24-hour vigil over the shedder vats, waiting to scoop up the spongy crusta- ceans. Some nights the crabs molt as fast as the family can scoop. Bridges says he shed over 1,100 dozen crabs in one night last spring. "During May you don't talk to nobody around here," he says. "They'll bite your head off. "It takes the long hours though. That's why everybody doesn't get into ; But if the hours are long, at least the profits are good. During the last weeks of April before crabs shed on the Chesapeake, Bridges
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionunclibra, booksubjectoceanography
