taste OF THE SEASON
Soft Shell Crab Season
At Hudson’s Seafood House on The Docks BY BROOKE PECK PHOTOS BROOKE PECK
Seafood lovers can rejoice because soft shell crab season will soon arrive in the Lowcountry. Each spring, blue crabs molt to lose their old, small shell and a new, larger shell is formed. For a small window of time in between, the crabs are soft and smooth and the entire crab can be consumed by diners. Considered a seafood delicacy, soft shell crab season lasts a few short weeks each year. A local Hilton Head restaurant, Hudson’s Seafood House on the Docks, sets up an elaborate sea water system to produce fresh soft shell crabs for their diners each spring. Live blue crabs are caught in traps in local saltwater creeks and then are placed in tanks on site at the restaurant. They are meticulously monitored 24 hours a day and seven days a week so that the crabs can be harvested at the perfect moment. It’s a unique process that is relatively new to Hudson’s history. Andrew Carmines is the owner of Hudson’s and he values high quality seafood for his customers. About a decade ago, Carmines started receiving disappointing feedback from his diners about the quality of soft shell crabs being delivered to his restaurant from commercial operators. “Two out of every ten soft shell crabs that we’d serve, people would say, I don’t like the texture of them,” Carmines said. “They are too papery in consistency like the outer shell had already started to reform. I didn’t like that answer.” Instead of delivery, Carmines begrudgingly started driving over two hours each day to pick up soft shell crabs to ensure their freshness for his diners. He shared his frustrations with local fisherman Rob Rowe who suggested Hudson’s begin harvesting the crabs at the restaurant to guarantee their freshness the following year. “Our whole goal was to have soft shell crabs that once you cook them, you can cut them with a spoon,” he said. “We don’t want to do things how it’s always been done, we want to try to find ways to do it better. In order to do that, we have to sometimes do things ourselves.” Assembling the crab harvesting operation for the first time was a big learning experience. The two men built their own tanks and assembled a pool pump to cycle fresh saltwater from under the restaurant to the tanks. It was a lot of trial and error with the main issue being the tank’s homemade construction. “The crabs would crawl on each other’s backs and jump out of the tanks,” he said. “They were crawling around on the deck because the walls weren’t tall enough.” 30
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Another challenge with harvesting soft shells is they have to be meticulously watched all day and night because each crab molts on a different timeline. The two men alternated night shifts during the first year. “You don’t sleep, really, because you have to watch them 24/7,” Carmines said. “You can go to sleep for twenty minutes but you have to set an alarm because you don’t want them to shed and then have the shell harden up a little bit because that happens almost instantly.” Since the crabs are being monitored and harvested on site, diners can see for themselves how the whole process works. “It’s really hard for people to understand it without seeing it.” he said. “Once they actually see it and you explain it to them, they are blown away.” Hudson’s features a soft shell crab menu with several different preparations. Soft shell crab Po’ Boys and BLTs are available along with blackened and pan sauteed options. The most popular choice is flash fried to crispy perfection. Soft shell crab meunière is lightly dusted and pan sauteed with a creole meunière sauce, lemon and capers. The start of soft shell crab season varies year to year based on the water temperatures. In 2025, the season got a late start in mid April due to such a chilly winter but the molting can start as early as the beginning of March. The length of each soft shell season varies, as well, but typically lasts three to five weeks. Once the season ends, diners have to wait a full year for local soft shell crabs.