Crab Traps
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THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS |
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FISHERMAN ON THE west coast of North America use large circular traps made of stainless steel to
capture crabs which are served up in restaurants all along the coast. |
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CRAB IS IN HIGH DEMAND in North American restaurants. |
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THE COMMERCIAL CRAB fishery uses large stainless steel traps designed to remain stationary on
the ocean floor. |
Appetite for crab meat is satisfied in North America by stainless steel traps. By George Radke
Nickel Magazine, November 2004 -- Stainless steel crab traps can be found all the way from Alaska in the north, down the west coasts of Canada, the U.S.A., and Mexico, to as far south as Chile.
Most traps are crafted in a small fishing community at the mouth of the Fraser River in British Columbia, which was once the home of nine salmon canneries. Ladner traps, as they are known, have been produced there for more than 30 years. S30400 stainless steel, containing 8-10.5% nickel, has been used in the framework for both crab traps, as well as prawn traps.
In the past year, more than 16 tonnes of S30400 stainless steel rod, 0.0375 to 0.0675 inches in diameter, have been rolled into hoops from 30 to 43-inch circular frames. They range from 12 pound light-weight traps for weekend sport fisherman to the ones found on commercial trawlers that weigh anywhere from 24 to 30 pounds apiece.
"The traps sell by word of mouth," says Kevin Zack, who has helped manufacture them for the past 30 years and who ships them across Canada to the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and to as far as Chile. So popular are the units that their brand name, Ladner Traps, is better known than the company that makes them, Sealtek Fabricators Ltd.
Once the stainless steel frame is jig-welded together, the traps are hand-woven, fishnet-style, with S30400 stainless steel wire, 0.041 to 0.048 inches in diameter. In the past 12 months, two full-time welders and 12 weavers managed to produce nearly 10,000 crab traps, plus more than 20,000 prawn traps. The latter entailed 48,000 pounds of nylon mesh stretched over an S30400 stainless steel stacking frame.
Commercial traps are larger and heavier -- and less likely to move, owing to tides, deep-water currents, and underwater drifting. Some are lost at sea as a result of heavy ocean conditions and rocky bottoms. The seafood market is growing and, in season, there is a good local fresh market. The U.S. market is the largest, with San Francisco the pinnacle for fresh crab.
Learning how to weave S30400 stainless steel takes several months, but once the skill is mastered, a trap can be completed in less than two hours. S30400 stainless steel traps are among the best products on the market.
"The trap design has been around for a long time, and changes and improvements have evolved as a result of trial and error," says Zack. "Offshore importers have tried to copy the Ladner Trap, but they failed to stand the test of the sea."
"The key to the success of the Ladner Trap is the S30400 stainless steel construction."
George Radke is a Vancouver-based industrial designer.
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