LOUISIANA Fisheries Forward

QUALITY + EDUCATION + SUSTAINABILITY www.LaFisheriesForward.org

Basics of Soft Shell

Shedding
S
OFT SHELL BLUE CRAB (Callinectes sapidus) aquaculture is one
of the oldest domestic aquaculture industries in the United States, with
shedding facilities across the East and Gulf of Mexico coasts. Shedding
crabs in Louisiana dates back to approximately 1887!

Soft shell blue crabs are a high value remove soft shell crabs quickly and at all
seafood, produced by culturing pre-molt hours of the day.
crabs in shallow dockside or land-based The soft crab is then refrigerated or
facilities until they shed their hard shell. frozen and sold for more than four to
Also known as peelers or busters, a five times the price of a hard shell crab.
soft shell crab is produced by taking Crabs molt every few days when they
advantage of a crab’s lifecycle. To grow first hatch out of eggs to a couple of
larger, crabs must times a year as they
molt or shed their near maturity; as
old shell. a mature adult,
female blue crabs
Soft shell production reach a terminal
is most successful molt and will not shed
when peelers are their shells again.
harvested one to
three days before Traditionally, shedding
molting (red liner started with boxes,
crab). Based on a called cars or floats, What do those colors mean? The color change
color change starting anchored off of is due to the formation of the new shell under
on the edge of the docks or in flow- the old shell. The bottom second segment of
back fin (see below), through trays on the the swimming fin is the easiest place to see
crab fishermen and deck of boats. For the color change—from white to pink to red.
shedders can tell accessibility and more
how close a crab is control, shedding • Green buster: just beginning to show
to molting. Peelers facilities moved to some signs of molting, but will still take
are then held in tanks land-based open a few weeks before ready to molt. These
at a shedding facility (flow-through) or have the highest mortality rate in a system
until they molt. closed (recirculating) since they have to be held so long.
systems. However,
To shed the old shell, even land-based • White Liner: the first faint outline of the
a crab swells with open systems second shell forming underneath the
water, and busts are susceptible old appears like a white line. The crab
the old shell along to poor water is still a week or two from molting.
the back edge. The quality, fluctuating
crab then wiggles • Red Liner: the line turns pink to red. Once
temperatures, and
out through the back. The new shell red, the crab is only a couple days from
damage from storms due to their
has already formed and is about a required proximity to the coast. Closed
molting. The abdomen of the crab can
third larger, but it is still soft. The crab systems within a garage or small shed, also turn purplish red once it gets close,
will remain truly soft for only a couple with some level of temperature control, especially in an immature female.
of hours in the water. If removed, the offer the most control and resiliency.
hardening stops, so shedders must

For more information on best practices for wholesale/retail dealers, and other requirements,
visit: https://www.lafisheriesforward.org/fisheries/dealers-processors/
Learn more about recirculating soft shell crab shedding systems at: https://vimeo.com/369914259

This publication is a cooperative effort of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Louisiana Sea Grant College at LSU
12-2019

through the Louisiana Fisheries Forward program, which aims to advance Louisiana’s seafood industry. This is one of many fact
sheets available free of charge at our website www.lafisheriesforward.org. // Author: J. Lively