Songjiang town gets ready for hairy crab breeding season

It has become a rite of late autumn for nearly every Shanghai household to enjoy the hairy crab meat and roe. If the autumn is the golden time to gobble the celebrated freshwater crustaceans, the best season to farm the crab larva is right now.

Crab farmers in Maogang Town, Songjiang District, are busy pouring 550,000 baby crabs into the pond these days, which are expected to mature after eight months.

With each weighing over 2 grams in a small, round shape, the larva has earned its nickname "button crab," a little bigger than a one-yuan coin. It's the well-known Songjiang native breed "Jianghai 21" when they grow up to reach about 200 grams. The baby crabs will be self-breeding and self-cultivating in the base.

The best and most popular crustaceans are the Yangcheng Lake hairy crab, the Rolls Royce of the freshwater crab world. They are harvested from the lake northeast of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. Crabs from the eastern part of the lake are said to be the best.

However, at the source of the Huangpu River in Songjiang, Shanghai-grown hairy crabs are giving their Yangcheng Lake rivals a run for their money. Located on the upper reaches of the river, which is blessed with rich aquatic plant life and clean water, Maogang boasts Shanghai's largest hairy crab center.

The Huangpu River hairy crab, once popular in Shanghai, fell into decline in the 1980s because of pollution. In recent years, aquaculture experts have introduced new, eco-green cultivation techniques to re-breed the species in the suburban district.

With a green back, white belly, golden pincers and yellow hair, the Huangpu River crab features tender meat and rich crab roe with a slight, natural sweet flavor.

Before the farmers release the larva into the water, they will clean, disinfect, select and distinguish between male and female crabs, which will go into different ponds. "They have different life cycles, so it is better for their growth and easier for us to haul up in the harvest time," said Gu Yi, the fish farm's director.

Water is the key to breeding quality hairy crabs. Clean water from the Huangpu's water protection zone is purified two times then channeled into the crab grounds. The crab ponds imitate nature's tidal phenomena, and water is added with oxygen according to different seasons.

Different types of water grasses are planted, creating a three-tier plant environment to help purify the environment and provide food for aquatic creatures.