Farmers harvest hairy crabs in Hongqiao town, Huzhou's Changxing county. [Photo/hz66.com]

Hairy crabs from Hongqiao town, Huzhou's Changxing county recently hit the market, according to local media reports.

Hongqiao town is dubbed the "hometown of Taihu Lake crabs". This year, crabs produced from the area are larger than previous years.

River crabs have to shed their shells five to six times growing from larvae to adults. They have already cast off their shells for the second time, which is a good time to eat them, according to Su Nian, assistant general manager of Zhejiang Aoling Aquatic Seed Industry Technology Co Ltd.

Compared with hairy crabs that are consumed around the Mid-Autumn Festival, crabs harvested now are small in size, but have a thin shell, tender meat, and plump crab roe, which is hugely popular on the market, Su said.

The company now harvests 100 to 150 kilograms of crabs every day, with the figure expected to increase to 200 to 250 kilograms after June 10. Its total output of hairy crabs this year is estimated to be at 9,000 to 10,000 kilograms, worth about 700,000 ($107,692.3) to 800,000 yuan.

A close look at hairy crabs from Hongqiao town, Huzhou's Changxing county. [Photo/hz66.com]