Bombay is home to numerous creeks and mangroves. But what a lot of people don't know is that living deep inside these forests are Giant crabs or Chimbora that I devoured as a kid - cooked in delectable green coconut curry.
I grew up near the Dharamtar creek where my father and I, often went fishing - sometimes with a small - single cylinder boat. It feels as if it was yesterday that we were passing by the Karanja jetty with 100 bag-nets, and saw several marked Khajan or nets attached to bamboos near Mangroves at the beginning of the low tide line.
Within this short distance of the creek - this was the second fishing practice I distinctly observed. Further inside, I spotted some engine-less canoe with disco nets and gill nets or Chimborichi jala as we locally called them - paddling closer to the mangroves targeting giant crabs.
The crabs I was used to eating were smaller in size (between 100 to 200 gm) caught by bag nets and sold at local markets, but these were much bigger than that.
Dad moved the boat away from the artisanal experts who were professional 'crab catchers' and cast our nets at a different spot. We managed to catch about a kilo and this became my first memory of these magnificent creatures.
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Giant crabs in Mumbai provide livelihood opportunities to hundreds of fishers like those from Kondripada and Kasavlapada in Karanja, Rewas, Gavhan, Gharapuri, Mora, Dival etc.
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Lockdown was another time I got close to these giants (refer photo). This interaction gave me a sense of the scale of crab fishing in Mumbai and during this time, I also saw a few 4 kilo crabs which I had never seen before.
It was motivating to support these fishermen during those hard times and do my bit to increase their access to domestic markets of Mumbai.
Fun fact : Crabs this big are expensive and are considered a delicacy mostly in Singapore and Hong Kong. They are transported alive via air.
Unfortunately, increasing encroachment, deforestation and pollution threatens this biodiversity which was otherwise protected by fishing communities for decades.
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