Crab fishing

See also: Food and drink • Food at Elisal

Why crab as a luxury?

• Perishability: Crab is highly perishable. Without modern refrigeration, keeping crab fresh, especially if sourced from distant coastal areas or deep waters, would be incredibly difficult. This immediately makes it a rare commodity, suitable only for those with the resources to transport and prepare it quickly.

• Labour-Intensive: Catching crabs, especially larger ones, can be a specialised and sometimes dangerous task. Processing them (cooking, cracking, extracting meat) is also more labour-intensive than, say, butchering a pig. This adds to its cost and exclusivity.

• Unique Texture and Flavour: Crab meat has a distinct, delicate sweetness and unique texture that sets it apart from common meats or even other fish. This makes it a special treat.

• Symbolic Association: In some cultures, crustaceans were associated with water, the moon, or even mystical properties. For a society ruled by Priestesses, a food with these subtle, almost otherworldly associations would be fitting. They might even incorporate it into their rituals or special ceremonies.

• Lack of Widespread Cultivation: Unlike livestock or crops, crabs aren’t easily “farmed” in a medieval context (though some shellfish like oysters were cultivated). This limits their consistent supply and makes them more of a “wild” luxury.

Crab in the Priestesses’ Diet

For the Priestesses, crab would be prepared with utmost care and presented as a centrepiece of their exclusive meals.

Food – Crab Dishes

Boiled and Served Whole: The most straightforward, often presented on elaborate platters as a visual spectacle. Perhaps garnished with edible flowers or delicate herbs.

Crab Salad with Fine Herbs: The meat carefully picked and mixed with expensive olive oil (if available), verjuice (sour grape juice), and rare herbs like saffron or dill.

Crab Pottage/Soup: A rich, creamy soup or stew made with the delicate crab meat, perhaps thickened with almond milk and flavoured with precious spices like nutmeg or ginger.

Crab Tarts or Pies: Baked into delicate pastries, perhaps with a savoury custard filling, showcasing the crab’s flavour without overwhelming it.

Crab with Exotic Sauces: Served with complex sauces involving imported citrus (if available), wine reductions, or unique spice blends that only the Priestesses’ kitchens could procure.

Serving and Presentation

Elaborate Feasts: Crab would be reserved for special occasions, religious ceremonies, or significant gatherings, serving as a powerful symbol of the Priestesses’ divine favour and earthly power.

Finest Utensils: Served on polished pewter or even precious metal dishes, with delicate tools for extracting the meat.

Ritualistic Aspects: Perhaps the first serving of crab goes to the High Priestess, or certain parts of the crab are reserved for specific individuals, reinforcing hierarchy even within the elite.

This makes crab a perfect, high-status food item that truly underscores the privilege and power of your Priestesses, setting them apart from all other social groups in your world.

Crabbing

A medieval crab fisherman would have used relatively simple, low-tech methods to catch crabs, relying on hand-made gear, local knowledge of the sea, and seasonal rhythms. Here’s how a medieval crab fisherman likely operated:

Location and Environment

• Coastal Communities:
  • Most crab fishing would have taken place in coastal villages where access to shallow, rocky shores or estuaries was easy.
• Tidal Knowledge:
  • Fishermen depended on the tides, especially low tide when crabs were more easily collected in rock pools or shallow water.

Equipment and Tools

• Handmade Crab Pots or Traps
  • Simple wicker or wooden-framed traps, sometimes called creels, baited with fish offal.
  • Traps were lowered by hand and marked with primitive floats or wooden buoys.

• Nets or Rakes
  • Small hand nets or crude rakes were used to scoop crabs from shallow waters.

• Baskets and Buckets
  • Woven reed baskets or wooden tubs were used to carry the catch back to shore.

• Clothing
  • Wool tunics and leather boots or barefoot; waterproofing was minimal, so fishermen were often cold and wet.

Techniques

• Baiting and Waiting:
  • Crabs were lured into traps with bait like rotting fish, eel heads, or offcuts from the local market.
  • Traps were left for several hours or overnight, depending on tide cycles.

• Hand Gathering:
  • At low tide, fishermen (and sometimes women and children) would collect crabs by hand under rocks or in tidal pools.

• Seasonal Work:
  • Crabbing was often seasonal, peaking in spring and summer when crabs were more active.
  • It could be part of a broader fishing or farming livelihood.

Economy and Trade

• Local Consumption:
  • Crabs were eaten fresh by families or salted/pickled for preservation.
• Markets:
  • Surplus crabs could be sold or bartered in local markets or to travelling fishmongers.

Risks and Challenges

• Tide Dangers: Risk of being trapped by rising tides.
• Cold and Injury: Cuts from rocks or crab claws, and hypothermia from long hours in cold water.
• Weather Dependency: Storms or rough seas could halt fishing entirely.

Historical Example

In England or France around the 12th–15th centuries, a coastal peasant might supplement their livelihood with crab fishing. They’d fish in estuaries or rocky beaches, using handmade pots, guided by family traditions and oral knowledge rather than written manuals.

Boats

When he would use a boat

• Fishing in Deeper Waters or Estuaries: If the local crab species lived farther from shore or in deeper tidal channels, a small boat would be necessary to reach the right spots.
• To Set and Retrieve Traps: Boats made it easier to set multiple traps across a wider area and check them during the tide.
• To Access Rocky Offshore Areas: Some crabs prefer rocky seabeds that aren’t reachable by foot.
• Transport: He could also use the boat to transport the catch back to the village if traps were set far from the shore.

When he would not use a boat

• In Rocky Shorelines or Tidal Pools: In areas with accessible crabbing during low tide, hand-gathering without a boat would be more practical.
• For Subsistence Crabbing: A poor fisherman or peasant might not have access to a boat, relying instead on wading, walking, and hand tools.
• Seasonal Work: If crabbing was just part of a larger livelihood (e.g., farming or fishing), owning and maintaining a boat might not be worth it.

What Kind of Boat?

If he did use a boat, it would likely be:

• Small and Wooden: Flat-bottomed or clinker-built boats (like a coracle, dinghy, or small skiff).
• Rowed or Punted: No sails or motors—just oars or poles.
• Home-built or Communally Shared: Boats were expensive, so ownership might be shared or the fisherman might rent or borrow one.

In Summary

A medieval crab fisherman could use a boat, especially in areas with deeper waters or inaccessible shores, but many would have done without—especially in shallow tidal regions where crabs could be gathered by hand.

Possible Crab Types in a Fantasy World

Name	Description	Behaviour	Use
Ironclaw Crab	Heavy-shelled, claws strong enough to cut rope.	Aggressive, hides in wreckage.	Shells used for armour; meat is smoky and rich.
Glassback Crab	Translucent shell, hides in coral reefs.	Skittish, hard to spot.	Valued delicacy; hard to catch.
Tidegrasp Crab	Burrows into sand and ambushes prey.	Territorial, can drag small creatures under.	Used in potions; claws sold as weapons.
Cindershell Crab	Lives in volcanic coastal vents.	Immune to heat, glows faintly red.	Used in fire resistance brews.
Whispercrab	Lives in deep tide caves, emits soft clicking sounds.	Moves in swarms.	Associated with omens and divination.

The Life of a Fantasy Crab Fisherman

Lives in a coastal shanty, walls made of driftwood and barnacle-encrusted stone.

Keeps a crab hound (dog trained to sniff out buried crabs).

Catching crab by boat

A medieval fisherman catching crabs with pots would have used methods and materials that were available to them at the time. While modern, wire-mesh crab pots are a relatively recent invention (patented in the 1920s), the concept of using a baited trap to catch shellfish is ancient.

Here’s a breakdown of how a medieval fisherman would likely have done it:

The Pot Itself

Materials: The pot would have been constructed from natural, local materials. The most common choice would have been woven wood, like willow or hazel branches, similar to how baskets were made. Some may have used reed or other pliable plant fibres. This style of pot is sometimes called an “inkpot” trap due to its shape.

Design: The design would be simple yet effective. The pot would be woven into a dome or cone shape, with a narrow opening at the top or on the side. This opening would be a funnel, allowing the crab to crawl in after the bait but making it difficult for the crab to find its way back out. The pot would be weighted with stones to ensure it sank and stayed on the seabed.

Baiting and Setting the Pot

Bait: To attract the crabs, the fisherman would use bait. Crabs are scavengers, so almost any type of animal remains would work. This could include fish guts, other smaller fish, or leftover scraps of meat. The bait would be placed inside the pot, likely secured in a small bag or tied to the bottom to keep it from floating away.

Location: The pot would be set in areas where crabs are known to live and forage. This would be in shallow, coastal waters, often in rocky areas or near seaweed beds where crabs seek shelter and food.

Deployment: A rope made of natural fibres like hemp or nettle-hemp would be attached to the pot. This rope would be long enough to reach the surface at high tide and would be secured to a buoy or marker made from a piece of wood or a gourd. The fisherman would lower the baited pot from a small boat or from the shore and leave it for a period of time, often overnight, to allow crabs to enter.

Retrieval

Lifting the Pot: The fisherman would return to the location, locate the buoy, and carefully pull the rope to bring the pot to the surface.

Checking the Catch: Once on the boat or shore, the fisherman would open the pot and retrieve any crabs that had been trapped inside.

This passive form of fishing, where traps are set and left to do their work, was a common and efficient method in the Middle Ages, allowing fishermen to focus on other tasks while the pots collected their catch.

Retrieving the pots

A medieval fisherman would not have had any “special equipment” in the modern sense. The process of raising the pots would have been a manual and physically demanding task, relying on muscle power and some clever use of basic tools and boat design.

Here’s a breakdown of what that would have looked like:

Rope and Buoy: The most important “equipment” was the rope itself, and the buoy. The rope, made of strong natural fibres like hemp, would be attached to the pot, and the buoy (often a piece of wood or a gourd) would mark its location on the surface.

Hauling by Hand: To retrieve the pot, the fisherman would simply locate the buoy and pull the rope by hand, coiling it into the boat as they went. Depending on the depth and the weight of the pot (with its stone ballast and any crabs inside), this would have required considerable strength.

Boat Design: The design of the fishing boat itself would have been a key factor. Medieval fishing vessels would have been relatively small, and fishermen would have needed a stable platform to stand on and a clear gunwale (the upper edge of the side of the boat) over which to haul the pot. The boat’s design might have incorporated a low side or a specific section for this purpose.

Simple Leverage: For particularly heavy pots or in deeper water, a fisherman might have used a simple form of leverage. This could involve wrapping the rope around a sturdy wooden post or a section of the boat’s frame to give them better grip and a mechanical advantage, but this would still have been a manual process.

In contrast, modern commercial fishermen use motorised “pot haulers” or “creel haulers” to raise lines of traps, a piece of equipment that simply did not exist in the Middle Ages. The medieval approach was one of brute force, simple mechanics, and a deep knowledge of the local tides and seabed to make the process as efficient as possible.

Tides

Medieval fishermen would have been highly attuned to the tides, as they dictate the movement and feeding patterns of marine life. When it comes to raising crab pots, the most productive time is slack water, which is the period of time around both high tide and low tide when the water is moving the least.

During slack water, the strong currents of the incoming or outgoing tide are not pushing the crabs around. This is when crabs are most likely to be actively foraging for food and moving about, making them more likely to enter a baited pot.

Strong tides can make it difficult to set and retrieve pots, as the current can drag them and cause them to get tangled or lost. Strong currents also make it harder for crabs to navigate and hunt, so they often seek shelter.

Therefore, a medieval fisherman would aim to retrieve their pots during the slack high tide or slack low tide to maximise their catch and ensure a safer and more efficient operation.

Clothing

General Considerations

Practicality: Their clothing would be chosen for its durability, ease of movement, and resistance to water and salt. It would likely be made from sturdy, readily available materials.

Social Class: As a working-class family, their clothes would be simple and functional, without the elaborate decorations, fine fabrics, or restrictive styles of the nobility.

Climate: The location of the coast would be a factor. If it’s a cold, northern coast, they would need more layers and warmer fabrics. If it’s a warmer, southern coast, lighter clothing would be more suitable.

Crab Catching: The act of crab catching involves being in and around water. Their clothes would likely show signs of wear and tear, and may have a distinct, salty smell.

Men

Tunic: A simple, mid-thigh or knee-length tunic made of coarse wool or linen. This would be their primary upper garment. It would be practical and easy to move in.

Trousers/Breeches: Baggy, loose-fitting trousers (braies) tied at the waist and ankles. Again, made of a durable fabric like wool or linen. These would be ideal for wading and moving over uneven coastal terrain.

Outerwear: A heavy wool cloak or a simple, sleeveless tunic (cotta) for warmth and protection from the elements. This could be made from felted wool to provide some water resistance.

Footwear: Simple leather shoes or boots. Given their trade, these would be sturdy and likely well-worn, and might have a high top to protect against scrapes and splashes. They might also go barefoot in warmer weather or when in the water.

Accessories: A wide-brimmed straw or felt hat to protect from the sun and a leather belt from which they could hang tools or a pouch.

Women

Undergarments: A simple linen chemise or shift would be the base layer.

Dress: A simple, long-sleeved dress or tunic (kirtle) made from durable wool or linen. It would be high-necked to protect from the sun and have a full, ankle-length skirt for modesty and practicality. It would be belted at the waist.

Apron: A full-length apron made of tough linen would be an essential part of her outfit. It would protect her dress from dirt, water, and the sharp shells of the crabs.

Headwear: A simple linen coif or veil would be worn to keep her hair tidy and out of her face, as well as to protect her head from the sun.

Footwear: Sturdy leather shoes or boots, similar to the men’s. They would need to be comfortable for walking along the beach.

Accessories: A simple leather belt and possibly a pouch for carrying small items.

Girls

Tunic: A simple, knee-length tunic made of linen or coarse wool. This would be her main garment, giving her freedom of movement for playing and helping.

Hose/Leggings: Simple woollen or linen hose to protect her legs from scrapes and the cold.

Outerwear: A simple, short cloak or jacket for warmth.

Footwear: Simple leather shoes or going barefoot in warmer weather.

Headwear: A simple cap or a tied scarf to keep her hair back.

Accessories: She would likely have a small, simple pouch or a basket that she uses to help with the day’s work.

Overall

Colours: Their clothing would be made from undyed or naturally-dyed fabrics in earthy tones: browns, greys, and off-white. The clothes would be mended and patched, showing their long use.

Textures: The fabrics would be coarse and sturdy. Wool would be used for warmth, and linen for its quick-drying properties and breathability.