This land crab traveled up to Breeze Bar of Palau Royal Resort on May 15, 2014. A young Taiwanese lady took a picture of it under the bar. I took 4 shots of it to be the featured photo of my experience in catching big mangrove crabs.
(Photo by Roberto Hernandez)
MUSICIAN AND FISHERMAN
I USED to fish at lagoon or channel near Echang and Image Restaurant during low tide.
The water is just knee-deep during low tide and very inconvenient if you fish during high tide even using a bamboo raft.
During the month of November - February, the low tides are in the evening or early morning.
Missing fishing for a few months, I decided to try fishing at 6:00 am on December 02, 1994.
I have a rectangular styro foam that Image Restaurant is just throwing away after getting the imported grapes or fruits from that container.
I have a spear made of bamboo stick and steel they use in the construction of walls or cement road.
I have also a knife, 20 small hooks, 4 sets of fishing line with 5-10 lbs. strength, a container for ngims (bait from the stomach of sea cucumber).
I know that during that month, only few ngims I can collect especially if it's morning.
As I am halfway to the lagoon, I saw a big mangrove crab on the water. Usually I encounter only small crabs when I fish during afternoon.
I used to catch those small ones if they are not hiding in the rocks and step on them, take the pincher away and put it in my container.
If there are few bites, I will concentrate on small crabs and cook them in coconut milk. Just the soup is good enough for dinner or lunch.
THIS CRAB IS DIFFERENT! If the legs are spread out, it can measure up to 20 inches.
I spear it just right in the middle of its shell. It's like a bulls eye in dart. Then I put the spear up so that it will not fall on the water.
TO MY VERY SURPRISE, THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!
THEY ARE MATING!
The male (bigger) is on top of the female crab. The spear didn't penetrate the female crab but because the male crab was hurt by the spear, it pinch the female furiously.
I'm determined to catch them both! If it will take longer time with them pinching each other and in midair, the female can get away.
I PUT THEM BOTH IN THE FOAM CONTAINER WITHOUT TAKING OFF THE SPEAR.
I take off my shirt so that they will not crawl to freedom especially the female.
It's already good enough for a whole family's lunch or dinner so I didn't proceed fishing for small fishes.
I push the container with the spear still there, keeping the two mangrove crabs no a chance to escape.
As I reach the shore, I carried the styro foam with the spear still attach to the male mangrove crab.
My room is open with the new chef Hermie, my roommate, still sleeping at about 6:30am.
I shouted at him to open the door going to kitchen. He hesitantly open the door upon seeing me in fishing attire and resume his sleep.
The big male crab is already dead. I put the female one into a big casserole and put weight on top of the lid so that it will not escape.
Willie Medalla, the carpenter-maintenance crew of Image Restaurant saw my catch. He said he will get coconuts and we will cook it with coconut milk as the chefs in the restaurant are doing when guests order mangrove crabs.
While the male crab is being cooked, I took some vegetables nearby (swamp cabbage or kamkum in Palauan language and kangkong in Filipino language.)
I cooked the female crab separately without any ingredients except salt and a little water (halabos).
When it is ready for lunch, Willie suggested the we call our boss Margarita Borja Dalton to eat lunch with us.
When she comes, she asks me to be the first one to get crab cooked in coconut milk as I'm the one who caught it.
She's very surprise that I get the swamp cabbage first instead of crab. I like vegetables.
EVERYBODY ENJOYED THE CRAB LUNCH!
Me, my wife Flor and daughter Karen enjoyed more the female crab as it has more fat (aligi) and meat than the male one.
I kept the big shell of that male mangrove crab as a souvenir with the hole in the middle as an indication of how I caught it.
Source: Chess And Music (Perfect Combination)
The Beginning of Chess In Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
June 2014
To be published as a book in the future
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