About Us
Blue Crabs!
When it comes to seafood, fresh is best! It was that single goal which drove our Maryland native and crab connoisseur of Blue Crab Ranch, to start Bluecrabranch.com back in 2013 from a unique property just outside of Saint Augustine, Florida.
The property has 5 acres of purpose-built crab holding pond facilities. All freshly caught blue crabs are released minutes after they leave the dock into where they are then free to swim around in waters that are rich in minerals and have natural foods until sale time.
At harvest time they go from pond to cool room within ten minutes and are then steamed within the hour for cooked orders or shipped within two hours for live sale. They could not be fresher if you’d caught them yourself!
More than Blue Crabs!
Over the last several years, our team at Blue Crab Ranch have built up a great network of high quality seafood producers and distributors along the East Coast of the USA so in 2020 we have decided to expand Blue Crab Ranch to offer a much larger array of live, cooked, fresh, and frozen seafood to our great clients all across the USA.
It is our promise to you that we will:
- bring you the freshest high-quality seafood available
- ensure our pricing delivers great value for money
- work with sustainable producers to look after our fisheries
- promote sustainability in everything that we do
Fish is healthy and delicious. We want to help you make it a bigger part of your weekly diet by offering a great range of options at good value. We can even make it easier by arranging for a regular weekly or monthly package to be sent to you!
History
The Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus), also known as the Atlantic Blue Crab or the Chesapeake Blue Crab, is a large edible swimming crab species native to waters in the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The Blue Crab is of economic importance to many Southern American States and is the Maryland state crustacean, being that State's largest commercial fishery.
Males and females are easily distinguished by the shape of the abdomen, (also known as their apron) with males being long and slender, whereas mature female aprons are wide and rounded.
Blue Crabs can reach over 9 inches! Males may mate several times during their lifetime however females will only mate once, producing one batch of eggs which can number over 2 million per crab. They usually live in relatively low salinity environments like rivers and estuaries; however, females move to high salinity waters like river mouths or the open sea to breed. Crabs are generally considered to be mature after 12-18 months and can live to 3-4 years.
Crabs are voracious predators and are omnivores, which means that they will eat almost anything. They are considered scavengers, eating most smaller organisms that they encounter including fish, clams, oysters, mussels, snails, worms, and insects.
Contact Us
Email: bluecrabranch@gmail.com
Phone: 904-377-0172