Recreational fisherman Marc Zaluski, a resident of Watermill, NY, pulled in his crab pot in the Peconic Bay area on May 25, 2024, and recovered a massive blue crab measuring 8 3/16 inches. On June 24, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) officially confirmed and acknowledged it as the biggest recorded blue crab in New York State.
Zaluski’s crustacean beat out the former record holder by a whole inch. Hunter Tracy of Westhampton set that former record of 7 3/16 inches last July in Moriches Bay. Blue crab season is open all year long in New York to recreational fishermen and doesn’t even require you to possess a saltwater fishing license. The minimum size limit to keep one is 4 1⁄2 inches, measuring from one point of the lateral spine to the other. You can keep up to 50 crabs a day, but any with eggs on them must be safely returned to the water, per NYSDEC guidelines.
“It was a monster, a beast,” said Ken Morse, the owner of Tight Lines Tackle Shop in South Hampton, who saw Zaluski’s crab with his own eyes. Morse has owned Tight Lines for over 20 years and grew up fishing the Long Island waterways, and Zaluski brought his champion crab right to his shop. It was there that the official recording took place. When submitting a possible record catch, the angler must fill out a form stating the species and location of the catch and sign off that they swear they are telling the truth. It also requires the officially submitted measurement and picture to be taken by a tackle shop employee and there be a witness to watch it all unfold.
“It was Marc, his friend as a witness, and me, the tackle shop guy, who recorded it and filled out his DEC form for the record,” Morse explained.
After that, the form and picture are sent back to the DEC. The application and measurement are verified by biologists at the DEC’s Division of Marine Resources, which is located at the Nissequogue River State Park in Kings Park. Within 30 days of being confirmed as setting a new record, the fisherman will receive a certificate for his record catch.
Zaluski ultimately harvested his catch. While he tries not to solicit information from people, Ken Morse did reveal that he believes Zaluski caught the crab in a creek branching off the Peconic Bay somewhere in South Hampton.
Rivaled only by the lobster, blue crabs are one of the most valued shellfish in New York, sought out by seafood lovers and even as bait for bigger fish. They also provide a food source for marine birds like Osprey and Seagulls. Due to their range in location throughout the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico, the blue crab is also known as the Atlantic blue crab. They eat bait fish, deceased fish, clams, oysters, and other crabs.
“Blue crabs generally only live for three or four years, and their shells can grow up to 9 inches,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Now, while it cannot officially be confirmed, Zaluski’s crab is believed to have been older than that, based on its rare size for the New York area.
“Blue crabs and other crustaceans are especially difficult to age because of the complex nature of discrete growth. Blue crabs need to molt to grow, and growth rates are affected by water temperature, prey availability, predator avoidance, and competition with other blue crabs. Also, blue crabs lack hard parts like scales or otoliths, which biologists use to age fish. This crab may likely have lived to five or six years based on its size, but there is no definitive way to tell,” the NYSDEC said in a direct statement.
While Zaluski is the reigning crab master, you could be the one to reel in the new record-breaking crab out of nowhere, just like he did a month ago.
