Question
Hi Robin,

I love Blue Crabs (for eating) and have grown so frustrated
at not having access to them in Jackson Mississippi that I wonder about the possibility of building a SALTWATER POND on my land and raising blue crabs myself.

This would only be about 70 miles north of where they occur naturally at the Gulf Port of Mississippi.

I know of a person who once had a Saltwater Pond in Arizona with Squid in it and had to constantly add sea salt to the water, but I don't remember any of the details.

I would imagine that crabs might be more resilient than fish or squid and the Blue Crabs on the U.S. east coast do
go through a winter period, which in Mississippi, would be a lot milder.

Is this impossible?  I'm thinking a quarter-acre pond with
a dam, gravel, minnows, salt water and blue crabs.  

Answer
I live near Baltimore, lots of blue crabs here.  I don't eat crabs myself.  The Bay varies in salinity depending on where you are, and the crabs can move to whatever level of salt that they prefer.

I don't have first hand advice on saltwater ponds.  I know it is possible but you have to constantly monitor the salt level with a test kit.  If it rains and overflows the pond (diluting the salt), you'll have to add salt.  If the pond level goes down, you'll have to add water.  You could try to recreate a salt marsh for the crabs.  Minnows don't like a lot of salt but crabs can tolerate some freshwater depending on their age, species, and so on.  You might be able to strike a balance that allows for both.  Getting the crabs to spawn would be a different problem because I believe blue crabs change salinity areas at different times in their life. Sorry I don't know more about their biology.  I know that many people "farm" saltwater shrimp so farming brackish water crabs should be possible.  Good luck!