Hook, Line and Sinking: What’s the Future of North Carolina’s Commercial Fishing Industry?
January 3, 2024 | 1 min to read
At the Seaview Crab Company in Wilmington, co-owner Romano demonstrated the thrill of crabbing as he skillfully retrieved a pot filled with blue crabs. With a mix of excitement and practicality, he sorted the catch, ensuring only those of legal size were kept for sale, while playfully highlighting the appeal of the larger crabs. Emphasizing the enduring joy of the process, Romano's dedication to crabbing stood out amidst the day's work.
With a well-trained hook of the line by one of the founders and co-owners of Wilmington’s Seaview Crab Company, a few loops around the puller and a flick of a switch, the crab pot soon emerged.
Inside the pot, a dozen or so blue crabs scampered around, some using their impressive claws to attach themselves to the mesh-sides of the cage.
“It’s not always easy, but this never gets old,” Romano, 44, said as he emptied the crabs into a holding bin before checking to make sure they were all of legal size, the lucky ones getting tossed back into the waterway. The others were divided by size into containers to be sold individually − “These are the ones everyone wants,” Romano joked as he held up a good-sized crab − or to be sent to a crab house to be picked apart for their meat.
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