Meet the Harvesters: Pete Mason & Cara Delaney

We had a chance to chat with Pete Mason, Captain of the F.V. Kestrel and H. Cole Club Charter Experience. Pete and his wife Cara are also green crabbers and founders of Zombie Green Crab Co.: A green crab operation out of Marshfield, Massachusetts. They specialize in green crabs sold for culinary use and have previously partnered with GreenCrab.org Board Member Chef Youji Iwakura on educational charters where participants had the chance to learn about green crabs and taste the invasives prepared by Youji. They also sell green crabs for use as bait and hopes to expand his operation this summer.

Hi Pete, it’s great to chat with you! Could you tell us a little bit about your green crab operation and how you first started working with green crabs? 

It’s nice to chat with you as well and thank you for the opportunity to be spotlighted for our green crab operation. My wife, Cara and I catch green crabs in Marshfield. We use a small skiff and haul the traps by hand. It’s a nice change of pace from full-time lobster fishing. It’s also another way to generate some income and help remove these destructive animals from our rivers. We started doing it last year and quickly got hooked. 

Have you worked with any species impacted by green crabs? 

Everything that lives in the water where these crabs are is affected by them, they eat everything so yes, I’ve seen how the clam beds used to be vibrant and now they’re not as much, and I’ve seen the marsh receding and dying off from the crabs eating their roots. I’ve had crabs come up in my traps holding small juvenile fish in their claws so they eat anything and everything they can. 

What is your current season for fishing green crabs? 

Right now, my season is May 15 to February 1 because we have to follow the rules for the vertical line closure for the right whales. I think that we should be allowed to fish for green crabs with buoy lines during the closed time February 1 to May 15 because right whales are not up in the small little tributaries and rivers where I fish for these crabs. I know that there is a bounty for these crabs up on the North Shore, and I wholeheartedly believe that we should have one in the whole state to help eradicate these crabs. 

Do you use a specific trap for catching green crabs? What type of bait do you use?

I just use a standard commercial-size green crab trap from Ketchum. For bait it varies. We like to try different things and see what works better. I’ve used lobster bait like fish and skins but sometimes I’ll use kitchen scraps to experiment. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far in selling green crabs? What markets do you hope will expand in the future? 

The biggest challenge that we face is not being able to get rid of these crabs as fast as we catch them. I hope to see green crabs show up on menus just like lobster.

Photos from Zombie Green Crab Co.