Title: Snow Crab Information
Categories: Seafood Info
Yield: 1 Info file

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There are three species of snow crab in North American waters: Chinocetes opilio, C. bairdi, and C. tanneri. Of these, the most important commercially is opilio, which is also the only species caught in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The larges fishery is now in Atlantic Canada, but snow crab supports fisheries in Alaska as well as the Canadian Maritime provinces.

Snow crabs range in size from 2 pounds for opilio to five pounds for bairdi. Like king crab, they are captured in large, baited pots and kept alive after landing in a tank aboard the boat. Only live crabs are accepted at the shore plants and they are cooked and frozen using blast or brine freezing. Blast freezing results in a milder flavored crab and brine-frozen crabs have higher sodium levels. The only way for the consumer to tell how the crab has been processed is by the taste.

Snow crab is available in a number of forms, including leg portions, meat, and cocktail claws. Particularly convenient are scored legs where the shell has already been cut, allowing a simple snap to remove the meat.

From Simply Seafood magazine, Winter 1996.

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