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Crab, brown or edible
Cancer pagurus
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BIOLOGY
The brown crab is the heaviest British crab and easily identified by a characteristic 'pie-crust' edge to the carapace. They are found in waters down to 100 m. Brown crabs are highly fecund and spawn mainly in the winter months. They can grow up to about 250 mm carapace width, with the larger specimens inhabiting deeper water. The crab is encased in a hard, rigid shell, which, like other crustaceans, has to be shed at intervals to permit growth. Moulting takes place at frequent intervals during the first years of a crab's life, but only every two years after it is grown and this is mirrored by a slowing of growth rate. Juvenile crabs settle in the intertidal zone and remain in these habitats for 3 years, until they reach 6-7cm carapace width, at which time they migrate to subtidal habitats. Edible crabs can live for up to 100 years but average ages are around 25-30 years, and sexual maturity is reached after approximately 10 years.
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ADVICE
There is no formal assessment of crab stocks and the only information available comes from industry data which can be unreliable at times due to under-recording of effort and landings. Regulations introduced in 2006 for boats under 10m is encouraging to improve our knowledge of the fishery but there are still large gaps in the data for boats larger than 10m and it will be several years before enough data is gathered to gain a good understanding of the trends in landings. Avoid eating crabs below the minimum landing size (130-140mm in most areas of the UK) and crab claws unless it is certain they have been removed after landing. Egg-bearing or \\\"berried\\\" females should be avoided at all times to allow them to spawn.
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