Editing Chinese mitten crab (section)

==Culinary==
{{missing information|section|the 蟹黄 of male crabs — not quite the roe, but also reproductive and culinarily similar|date=January 2023}}
Crabs are an autumnal delicacy in [[Shanghai cuisine]] and eastern China. It is prized for the female crab roe, which ripen in the ninth lunar month and the males in the tenth.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dunlop |first=Fuchsia |title=The Chinese delicacy of hairy crabs |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20701058 |access-date=15 December 2012 |newspaper=BBC News Magazine |date=15 December 2012}}</ref> The crab meat is believed by [[traditional Chinese medicine]] practitioners to have a "cooling" ([[Yin and yang|yin]]) effect on the body.

Crabs from Yangcheng Lake are especially prized, since they are perceived to have sweeter meat.<ref name="NPR.org">{{Cite news |title=Something's Fishy About Chinese Hairy Crabs |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/10/141134793/somethings-fishy-about-chinese-hairy-crabs |access-date=2022-06-25}}</ref> Most of the Yangcheng crabs are exported to [[Shanghai]] and [[Hong Kong]], and high-profit foreign markets. Responding to the spread of the crab to the West, businessmen have started seeing it as a new source of crab for the Chinese market. One proposed scheme involves importing unwanted crabs from Europe, where they are seen as a pest, to replenish local pure-bred stock.

Mitten crabs have exhibited a remarkable ability to survive in highly modified aquatic habitats, including polluted waters.<ref name=issg.org/> Like some fish, they can also easily tolerate and uptake heavy metals, such as [[cadmium]] and [[Mercury (element)|mercury]]. Therefore, the farming and post-harvesting of the species needs proper management if it is used as a food.<ref name=mbcmc>{{cite journal |author1=Clifford A. Hui |author2=Deborah Rudnick |author3=Erin Williams |title=Mercury burdens in Chinese mitten crabs (''Eriocheir sinensis'') in three tributaries of southern San Francisco Bay, California, USA |journal=[[Environmental Pollution (journal)|Environmental Pollution]] |volume=133 |issue=3 |pages=481–487 |year=2005 |doi=10.1016/j.envpol.2004.06.019 |pmid=15519723|bibcode=2005EPoll.133..481H }}</ref><ref name=uctip>{{cite journal |author1=F. Silvestre |author2=G. Trausch |author3=A. Péqueux |author4=P. Devos |title=Uptake of cadmium through isolated perfused gills of the Chinese mitten crab, ''Eriocheir sinensis'' |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A |volume=137 |issue=1 |pages=189–196 |year=2004 |doi=10.1016/S1095-6433(03)00290-3 |pmid=14720604}}</ref> Concerns have been raised that the population and origin of the crab may be affected because of overfishing of the species in the [[Yangtze]].

In 2010, a Chinese businessman introduced vending machines to sell this species of crab in the subways.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mwv90m3N2Y Associated Press Video]</ref> The crabs are stored at {{convert|5|C|F}}, which induces a sleep-like state.<ref>Gizmodo [https://gizmodo.com/5670648/this-vending-machine-sells-live-crabs "Vending Machine Sells Live Crabs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617072340/http://gizmodo.com/5670648/this-vending-machine-sells-live-crabs |date=2017-06-17 }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Gekochte Wollhandkrabben.jpg|Hairy crab is an important part of [[Shanghai cuisine]]
File:Roe inside steamed female hairy crab.jpg|Closeup of the roe inside a steamed female crab
</gallery>

=== Counterfeit Yangcheng Lake crabs ===
Counterfeit crabs are a problem in the hairy crab industry. Due to the high demand for hairy crabs specifically from Yangcheng Lake, many vendors sell hairy crabs from other lakes and claim they are authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs. Although only 3,000 tons of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs were harvested in 2012, more than 100,000 tons of supposed "Yangcheng" crabs were sold.<ref name="NPR.org"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Now, fake hairy crabs |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-10/21/content_274117.htm |access-date=2022-06-25 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref>

"Bathing crabs" are hairy crabs sourced from elsewhere which are temporarily placed in Yangcheng Lake and then fraudulently sold as genuine Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.<ref name=":Liu">{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Lizhi |title=From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9780691254104 |pages=70}}</ref>

Identifying counterfeit crabs is a hard task, as the Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs look exactly like other hairy crabs. Technology has been implemented to identify fake hairy crabs, such as laser tags, prints, and barcodes, but these are easily forged.<ref name=":2" /> Blockchain-based tracing has also been implemented, where caught crabs are entered into a blockchain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese Search Giant Baidu Launches A Blockchain Applet To Tackle 'Counterfeit' Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crabs {{!}} NEWS.8BTC.COM |url=https://news.8btc.com/chinese-search-giant-baidu-launches-a-blockchain-applet-to-tackle-counterfeit-yangcheng-lake-hairy-crabs |access-date=2022-06-25 |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020013110/https://news.8btc.com/chinese-search-giant-baidu-launches-a-blockchain-applet-to-tackle-counterfeit-yangcheng-lake-hairy-crabs |url-status=dead }}</ref> Efforts to combat bathing crabs are ongoing.<ref>{{cite web |last=Yan |first=Alice |date=6 October 2012 |title=Trade in fake Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs rampant |url=https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1054958/trade-fake-yangcheng-lake-hairy-crabs-rampant |access-date=25 June 2022 |website=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref>