CrabFinder Listing Standards

CrabFinder is intended for established businesses and recurring commercial sellers of blue crabs and related seafood products. A storefront is not required, but listings must have a verifiable business identity, a consistent way for customers to contact or purchase from the seller, and evidence of ongoing or legitimate seasonal operations.

Eligible businesses can use many different operating models. Examples include:

• Crab houses and crab carryouts
• Seafood markets
• Restaurants that regularly sell whole blue crabs
• Live or steamed crab sellers
• Seasonal crab businesses
• Mobile seafood sellers
• Waterman-operated businesses
• Pickup-only seafood businesses
• Roadside or dockside sellers with an established recurring business presence

A listing should generally have the following. We do not require every business to operate in exactly the same way.

• A consistent business or trade name
• A verifiable way for customers to make contact
• A stable storefront, pickup location, service area or recurring operating location
• Evidence of ongoing or legitimate seasonal commercial activity
• Meaningful evidence that qualifying blue-crab or related seafood products are sold to consumers

CrabFinder may use several signals together. No single source is mandatory.

• Business website or business-controlled social page
• Publicly listed phone number
• Stable business address or pickup location
• Established online ordering page
• Government or public business records
• Recurring seasonal operating history
• Business-owner submission
• CrabHub connection
• Other reliable public or owner-provided information

When available information is not enough, we may ask for current contact details, an operating or pickup location, a website or social page, appropriate registration information, proof of recurring operation, or other reasonable information. We do not seek unnecessary sensitive documents.

No. A physical storefront is not required. Legitimate non-storefront businesses may include watermen selling directly to the public, recurring dockside sellers, mobile seafood businesses, seasonal crab sheds and established pickup-only operations. The seller must still have a verifiable, recurring business presence.

Seasonal operations are welcome. Closing during winter, operating only during crab season, changing seasonal hours, or opening on weekends during part of the year does not disqualify a business. CrabFinder distinguishes a seasonal closure from a business that is inactive or permanently closed.

CrabFinder welcomes legitimate waterman-operated and direct-to-consumer seafood businesses. Watermen do not need a traditional storefront, but they should have a consistent business identity, reliable customer contact method, established pickup or service arrangement, and evidence of recurring commercial sales.

CrabFinder may decline one-time sellers, occasional private sellers, temporary roadside sales without a recurring business presence, unverifiable sellers, private individuals occasionally selling excess crabs, or listings where customers cannot reliably contact or purchase from the seller.

A business should regularly sell or provide products such as:

• Live blue crabs
• Steamed blue crabs
• Whole hard crabs
• Crab feast quantities
• Crab meat
• Other closely related blue-crab products

A generic restaurant does not qualify solely because it offers one crab cake. Blue-crab relevance should be a meaningful part of what the business offers.

Businesses are expected to operate in accordance with applicable laws, licensing, permitting and food-safety requirements. CrabFinder may request additional verification where appropriate, but does not claim to independently certify every business's legal compliance.

We may review new submissions, owner claims, reported corrections, existing listings, and inactive or stale businesses. Reviews may consider current operating status, contactability, business identity, crab relevance, recurring operation and listing accuracy.

Submitting a business does not guarantee publication. CrabFinder may approve, decline, pause or remove a listing when it cannot reasonably verify that the seller meets these standards.

• The business permanently closes
• Information appears fraudulent or materially false
• The seller no longer meets these standards
• Customers can no longer reliably contact the business
• The listing duplicates another listing
• The business is no longer meaningfully relevant to CrabFinder

A legitimate business is not removed simply because its listing remains unclaimed.

A business does not need to claim its listing to remain listed. Claiming lets an owner update information, photos, hours, ordering links and profile details.

Claimed means the owner controls the listing. Verified means CrabFinder has confirmed certain information. Sponsored means the business paid for additional visibility. These are separate states; none means the business is more legitimate than another.

Basic CrabFinder listings are free. Payment is never required for inclusion. Advertising, sponsorship and promoted placement are separate, must be clearly labeled, and do not determine eligibility. A sponsored business must meet the normal listing standards first.

CrabFinder applies the same general standards regardless of business size or operating model. A small seasonal seller may qualify just as easily as a large restaurant when the business is legitimate, verifiable and regularly serves the public.

Unusual business models may be reviewed individually when they do not fit neatly into these categories.

If your business was declined, removed or listed incorrectly, you can submit an update, contact CrabFinder through our business help form, or provide additional verification. We will review the available information fairly.