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Anti-corruption drive brings festive crabs down to size

( China Daily )

Updated: 2015-09-22

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Millions of crab fans in China have their vinegar and ginger at the ready to make dipping sauce for Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, the star of the season, which hit the market on Sunday.

The opening ceremony of the crab harvest was held on Sunday morning at Shajiabang scenic zone in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, located next to the nation's top crab-producing town.

According to Yangcheng Lake Crab Industry Association, the lake will produce around 2,100 metric tons of hairy crabs this year, down 10 percent year-on-year.

Fang Gensheng, deputy director of the association, said that fewer large-sized crabs have been harvested from the lake due to the country's anti-corruption campaign.

"With less misuse of public funds on luxury food, regular consumers now account for the majority of people purchasing crabs," said Fang. "They prefer regular-sized crabs rather than the expensive large ones."

"Therefore, the fishermen are willing to put more baby crabs into the lake, which will not grow as large."

Yan Jinhu, director of the association, said that excessive rain this year also contributed to the smaller size. "The water level of the lake rose with the rain, which prevented the crabs from getting enough sunshine and a warm environment to grow bigger," said Yan.

According to Yin Nan, a crab vendor in Qingshui, the price of large crabs will be higher than last year, while the prices of the small and medium-sized ones will remain on a par with those in 2014.

Yin said that the crabs are sold wholesale for around 240 yuan ($38) per kilogram, while they retail at 320 to 360 yuan per kilo.

Around 70 percent of the crabs will be sold online, according to Yan, who confirmed that five of China's biggest e-commerce platforms have cooperated with the association, including Jingdong, Yihaodian and Suning Yigou.

"The crabs will be immediately put into cooler boxes after being harvested," said Fu Yong, an employee of the express delivery company Shunfeng Express in Suzhou. "Then we adopt cold chain transport to guarantee the freshness of the crabs."

To prevent crabs not native to Yangcheng Lake from being falsely labeled to deceive customers, each Yangcheng Lake crab has an authentic brand ring attached to one of its legs.

Located northeast of Suzhou, the freshwater lake is famous for its excellent water quality, which produces the country's best crabs, recognized by their green-blue carapace, snow-white bellies, and golden hair on their legs and pincers.

Contact the writer through cangwei@chinadaily.com.cn

 Anti-corruption drive brings festive crabs down to size

A crab farmer presents his catch at the start of the season in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Sunday. Zhu Haochen / for China Daily

(China Daily 09/21/2015 page3)

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