Traders pick crabs with flashlights.
Seafood merchants display fresh pike crabs.
Baskets of crabs stand tall and wait to be transported to qingdao's major markets.
Just after the autumn, Qingdao, which was originally "crab-free", landed on the shore, because of the bumper harvest of pike crabs in many places in the south, so that the citizens' tables were full of "fresh" taste. In the early morning, the aquatic products wholesale market located in Chengyang District of Qingdao City became a "big night field" where traffic was busy and crabs were "rampant". At 1:00 a.m. on August 8, as cold chain transport vehicles from Lianyungang, Ganyu and other places in Jiangsu Province drove into the market, thousands of kilograms of pike crabs "met" with Qingdao, and a large number of vendors gathered here to launch a "crab grabbing war". As soon as dawn came on, these southern crabs were transported by traders to large and small markets in the city, and then appeared on the tables of Qingdao citizens.
【Scene】Southern crabs go green overnight
After entering August, the crab army in the south continues to be transported to the Chengyang aquatic products wholesale market, and the southern crabs that enter Qingdao every year account for nearly 80% of the Chengyang market.
Just after 1:00 a.m., the citizens have already entered the dreamland, and in the Chengyang aquatic products wholesale market, many refrigerated trucks with Jiangsu license plates have lined up at the entrance of the market. The vendors who had been waiting here gathered together, holding flashlights to pick crabs, and predicted the price of crabs and the degree of fat and thinness of the day. As more than a dozen refrigerated trucks lined up in the market, several strong men unloaded a basket of live crabs from the car, and a "crab snatching war" began.
Around two o'clock in the morning, as there are more and more refrigerated trucks, the vendors are gathering more and more, and the shouts and counter-offers in the market rise and fall, and the crab trade reaches a climax. And this lively trading scene lasts for several hours, until the sky is bright, and then it can slowly return to calm.
The reporter saw at the scene that a refrigerated truck had just stopped at the market, and a worker wearing water clothes went forward to open the back door of the refrigerated truck, and then jumped on the carriage to unload the crabs into baskets, stood on the ground and began to control the water. At this time, the vendors who had been waiting next to them immediately gathered around, very skillfully holding a flashlight, like looking at jade, carefully inspecting the quality of the crab. After some haggling, the vendors weighed and paid for the selected crabs, and then found workers to push them out of the market and carry them to their own small refrigerated trucks. A vendor introduced that in order to select fresh crabs, they will open the basket containing crabs on the spot, directly according to the size of the head, male and female, etc., pick out individual crabs that died in transit, and after sorting, they can be sold directly to the morning market.
Although Qingdao is still in the fishing moratorium, crabs have increased in major farmers' markets these days. With the lifting of the ban on shrimp and crab fishing in some fisheries in the south, crabs from Ganyu, Lianyungang and other places in Jiangsu Province have been "fresh" and listed, filling the gap period of "crab-free" in The island city in August.
【Number】300,000 catties a day
The degree of love of Crabs by Qingdao citizens often breaks the conventional thinking of outsiders. Every August, the Southern Pike Crab will debut in the "c" position of the Qingdao market, steadily occupying the top spot in the seafood sales list.
August 8 is the second day of autumn, which also happens to be a weekend, and the number of southern pike crabs entering the green has ushered in a small peak. On that day, more than 50 refrigerated trucks from the south entered the market, each car can load more than 6,000 kilograms, and about 300,000 kilograms of crabs were transported to Qingdao overnight, becoming a delicacy on the citizens' table. "In more than half a month, the catch of barracuda crabs in the south has increased, and the number of crabs entering the green can reach more than 500,000 catties." The relevant person in charge of the Chengyang aquatic products wholesale market said.
These days are a small boom period, a refrigerated truck into the market, generally less than 1 hour, you can sell out the whole car of crabs. Master Zhang, who has been in the crab business in the market for more than 10 years, said, "Every morning at this point, there will always be a long queue of vehicles outside the market, and after the workers take turns to unload the trucks, the vendors will start trading on the spot." Now the fatness of the crabs shipped from the south is good, but because of long-distance transportation, there is also a certain mortality rate, so it is necessary to spend more effort when selecting crabs, otherwise it will lose money. "Because of the fear of loss, Master Zhang always spends more time than others in the early morning every day, repeatedly turning around the market several times, holding a flashlight to carefully check the fat and thin of the crabs, etc. On the same day, he spent more than 1 hour to pick 4 baskets of 160 pounds of crabs.
Master Zhang said that people who have been operating the crab business for many years know that the wholesale transaction is the most important link, 40 to 60 pounds per basket, female crabs, male crabs, two female crabs, the size is not the same, some crabs have died, and some are empty shells. But according to the rules of the market, if you want to buy, you have to buy the whole basket, you can't pick, so be extra careful. The crabs wholesaled by Master Zhang in the early morning must first be sold in the morning market, and the rest will be taken back to the market stalls to sell, which can generally be sold out in half a day.
【Price】The crab market is like a stock market
According to the market situation this year, the price of crabs has decreased slightly compared with the same period last year. The current wholesale price ranges from 20 yuan to 40 yuan per catty, while the market retail price is generally 35 yuan to 50 yuan per catty.
Crab prices can not be said for sure, there will be fluctuations every day, especially on holidays, prices and sales will rise a lot. This year, the pike crabs in the southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions have been bumper, and the crabs that have entered Qingdao in recent days will also decline with the rising catch. Manager Yuan of Chengyang Aquatic Products Wholesale Market introduced that the price of crabs is like the stock market, and it is normal to fluctuate up and down a few yuan a day, which is the law of the market. Wholesale crab is also a more professional industry, shrimp is the head of the price, and crab is not to see the size, but to see the price of fat and thin. Fatter crabs, even if they are smaller, will be more expensive. Conversely, even larger crabs can greatly affect the price because they are not too fat.
According to a number of crab suppliers from Jiangsu, putting aside the typhoon and other factors some time ago, taking the recent regular price of pike crab as an example, the "currency" is between 15 yuan and 35 yuan per kilogram when shipped from Lianyungang, and after entering the Chengyang aquatic products wholesale market, the cost of consumption loss is calculated, and the price will become 20 yuan to 40 yuan per kilogram. After a change of hands, when the wholesalers in Qingdao buy it and sell the barracuda crab to the vendors in the farmers' market, the regular price has exceeded 40 yuan per catty, and then the vendors in the market sell it to the public according to the quality price. Therefore, at present, in the seafood market in the island city, the pike crabs bought by the public are basically between 30 yuan and 60 yuan per kilogram.
■ Tips
The second female crab is picked like this
The southern pike crab that has just been listed is relatively fat, and the key is that the umami flavor can make the citizens who love seafood get addicted in advance. In addition to male and female crabs, there are two female crabs, and the public knows that the navel of the female crab is round, the tip of the navel is the male crab, the crab yellow is the female crab, and the crab cream is the male crab. However, the second female crab has the characteristics of both male crab and female crab, not only crab yellow and crab paste, but more importantly, the meat is fatter than male crab and female crab, but the number of this second female crab is particularly small.
"The second mother crab is also called the little female crab, that is, the mother crab that has not yet reached the reproductive age, after the shell will become a mature mother crab, the second female crab is not large, the weight is generally about 3 or two, and the time to eat the second mother crab every year is only 8-9 months, and after that, the second mother crab will grow up. According to the trader Master Zhang, the navel of the second female crab is a relatively straight triangle, with a pure white or slightly black bottom and a slight pink on the front end.
"If you talk about the degree of fat and thinness, the crabs are similar now, and it is not the fattest time." Manager Yuan introduced that the public wants to eat crabs full of yellow cream and fat, and they have to wait until around the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Zhang Xiangcheng said that now in a basket of 50 kilograms of crabs, you can pick out about 10 kilograms of good crabs, which can be sold at a higher price.
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Niu Zhaoxin
Doing this is the son's inheritance of the father's business
In the Chengyang aquatic products wholesale market, Niu Zhaoxin, the owner of Qingdao Zhaoxin Aquatic Products Company, can be described as a big name, and everyone is accustomed to calling him "Brother Niu". Niu Zhaoxin, 37, said, "He and his wife have been in the seafood business for more than 10 years and know the market of southern pike crabs. From August until October, every day is a day and night out with crabs, a refrigerated truck loaded with 3 tons of pike crabs, from Jiangsu to Qingdao Chengyang Aquatic Products Wholesale Market, generally takes more than 4 hours. ”
Every morning, listening to the shouts and shouts in the market, smelling the strong smell of the sea, Niu Zhaoxin had to constantly carry crabs and greet customers, while his wife was on the side to settle accounts. The reporter learned that Niu Zhaoxin took over the aquatic products line from his father, which can be regarded as the son inheriting his father's business.
"Crabs have begun to increase in the past few days, from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m., although tired, but have become accustomed." Niu Zhaoxin while talking to the reporter, while standing on a half-person-high bucket in the carriage, stepping on the bucket while carrying a basket of crabs from the barrel to the side of the car, the surrounding vendors then took it and carried it to the ground to stand up, commonly known as "roller", the purpose of this is to control the excess seawater in the basket to prevent pressure scales. After a few minutes, the vendor gets the scale and weighs it, then pays the money to complete the transaction.
"On that day, the crab purchase volume in chengyang market reached more than 300,000 kilograms, and its own aquatic product company sold almost 80,000 kilograms." Because there are many fixed customers, the crabs are quickly sold. Niu Zhaoxin told reporters that at more than 4 a.m., Niu Zhaoxin and his wife were ready to go home, "rest until 1 p.m., get up and simply eat some lunch, and then start Zhang Luo's crab business in the early morning of the next day, and such a busy life will continue for a while." For the price of crabs, Niu Zhaoxin analyzed according to years of experience, with the continuous increase of sales, the price will drop in a few days, and it will rise sharply around the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Zhang Xiangcheng
Native crabs are fresher than southern crabs
Due to the difference in time between the north and the south after the fishing moratorium, the difference in time is nearly one month, and the area of barracuda crab seedlings stocked in the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang is getting larger and larger, so the sales volume of pike crabs in Qingdao is also getting larger and larger every year. A merchant who operates crabs, Master Li, said that from the current point of view, the barracuda crab in the south is not the fattest time, and after the end of July in the lunar calendar, that is, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, the fatness will be better.
Mr. Lu, a citizen who has loved to eat crabs since he was a child, rushed to buy and taste the southern pike crabs as soon as they were on the market. Because he is an old Qingdao native, Mr. Lu can taste the difference between southern crab and local crab as soon as he tastes it. The barracuda crab in the south can also be called sea caught, and the yield is very large, so the price is cheaper, but the general public cannot taste the difference between qingdao's local crab and southern crab.
"Pike crabs in Lianyungang, Ganyu and other places in Jiangsu Province, because they are located in warm seas, the meat quality is softer, and the growth cycle is different, and the taste is not as fresh as qingdao." Barracuda crab operator Zhang Xiangcheng introduced that the beach area in northern Jiangsu is very large, fishermen will be a large area of the beach after the crab fry, do not have to manage like the breeding pond, just regular maintenance, to the harvest season direct fishing on the line, so the barracuda crab in northern Jiangsu is also considered to be sea fishing, and the general sense of aquaculture is not the same. Because of the large area of the beach, the production of pike crabs in northern Jiangsu is extremely large and the price is relatively cheap, so it has become the main sales force of the island city crab market.
"Nearly 80% of the southern pike crabs are wholesale from the Chengyang aquatic products wholesale market." Zhang Xiangcheng introduced, compared to, Qingdao's sea crab production is relatively low, generally until the Mid-Autumn Festival before and after the peak of production, in addition, the local breeding of pike crab by the northern Jiangsu pike crab price impact is very large, resulting in Qingdao farmers less and less, but Qingdao local breeding crab is generally in May to release seedlings, September began to list, in general, before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival is Qingdao's local sea crabs and farmed crabs a large number of listings.
Manager Yuan
Want to eat local crab and so on
Qingdao, which is still in the fishing moratorium, is mainly based on farmed seafood in the market, and because the local crabs have not yet been harvested, they have been "occupied" by crabs in northern Jiangsu and Zhoushan.
The production areas of pike crabs in the whole country are mainly distributed in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, and Xingcheng, Liaoning. Every year from August 1, with the full lifting of the fishing ban in Zhoushan, Lianyungang and other places, coupled with factors such as the fact that the sea area of the island city has not yet opened the sea, it has brought opportunities to southern crabs such as Lianyungang, which is not far from Qingdao, especially since 2013, the southern crabs dominated by northern Jiangsu have begun to "run rampant" in the island city.
Manager Yuan introduced that after entering August, the largest amount of marketed crabs is sea crabs, followed by fresh shrimp and southern fish. Niu Zhaoxin introduced that the biggest feature of the pike crab trade is the strong seasonality, August to October the most concentrated trading volume, every August island city to Lianyungang sea crab catch the most, there is a small part from Zhoushan, and other coastal crabs, although also began to fish and list, but by Zhoushan and Lianyungang two places "squeezed", coupled with the long road, there is basically not much market share in the island city.
Manager Yuan said that after September, with the opening of the sea in Qingdao, crabs from Laoshan, Chengyang and Jimo will begin to be listed in large quantities, and at that time, because most citizens of the island city like to eat local crabs, the sales of crabs in Lianyungang and other places will be affected to a certain extent.
/ Links /
After the "small open sea", you can taste it early
According to the national and provincial marine fishing moratorium regulations, the bohai sea and the Yellow Sea north of 35 degrees north latitude, all types of operations except fishing tackle, as well as fishing auxiliary vessels supporting fishing vessels, the off-season fishing season closure time is from 12:00 on May 1 to 12:00 on September 1. According to the regulations on the seasonal fishing moratorium, the fixed operation (including anchovy caught) is closed from 12:00 on May 1 to 12:00 on August 20. That is to say, after more than 3 months of fishing moratorium, in another 11 days, qingdao waters will usher in "small open seas", and in another 21 days will be fully opened.
The reporter learned that the so-called fixed net fishing is to fix the tens of meters long net in the sea and collect it the next day. According to the regulations, during fishing operations, 25% of the juvenile fish in the voyages and nets are legal, and a small amount of fresh mackerel and small trash fish will appear in the market. According to the experience of previous years, after the "small open sea", the seafood species in the island city market will be more abundant, and the catch types include eight belts, shrimp tigers, oyster shrimp, yellow croakers, redhead fish, tongue fish, green plate fish, pendulum turtles, white gu fish and so on.
The reporter also learned that the crabs at the venue cannot be tasted until after the opening of the sea. At present, even if there are people in the market under the banner of crabs in the venue, they are definitely fake. The public welfare marine ranch built in Laoshan District in The Venue Bay has completed the release of artificial reefs, and after the improvement of the ecological environment, the quality and taste of crabs at the venue will be better. In addition, some areas along the coast of Qingdao began to harvest jellyfish, according to the overall arrangement of the fishing moratorium, the Chinese shrimp fishing time in Qingdao waters was on August 20, and in more than 10 days, the public could eat the local sea shrimp.
This edition is written by Photo Guanhai News / Qingdao Morning Post reporter Kang Xiaohuan