Anyone catch/eat NJ Stone Crabs?

[Marcos]

Hello fellow wreck divers. I enjoy catching lobster while wreck diving off the NJ coast and during my search for lobsters I find lots of stone crabs. or are they rock crabs? I saw one guy come back with a bag of them, but he said you can only eat their claws. I read somewhere else where people rip off their big claw and throw them back to regenerate it. Does anyone have any experience with these critters in the North Atlantic? I am considering collecting them while I'm looking for lobster, but I want to make sure they're worth the trouble and if so any preparation advice would be much appreciated. Some crab claws would be a fine appetizer for that 5lb bug I pull up this year!

 

[SeaCobra]

Hello fellow wreck divers. I enjoy catching lobster while wreck diving off the NJ coast and during my search for lobsters I find lots of stone crabs. or are they rock crabs? I saw one guy come back with a bag of them, but he said you can only eat their claws. I read somewhere else where people rip off their big claw and throw them back to regenerate it. Does anyone have any experience with these critters in the North Atlantic? I am considering collecting them while I'm looking for lobster, but I want to make sure they're worth the trouble and if so any preparation advice would be much appreciated. Some crab claws would be a fine appetizer for that 5lb bug I pull up this year!

Don't waste your time on the jersey version. Keep looking for the bugs and good luck. You may want to try a little spearfishing as sea bass is some mighty fine eatin'.

JeffH

 

[Marcos]

I was fearing I would hear that. I guess they're not good eating? Maybe they're not as big as the ones in Florida? I guess they aren't worth dealing with for just their claws. I thought I might as well throw them in the game bag since I always see them on the wooden wrecks. Oh well, I guess I'll focus on lobsters. Thanks for your response.