How are the coconut crabs used?
Coconut crabs are eaten throughout the Cook Islands wherever they occur. They are considered a delicacy and are generally eaten by the island families rather than being sold for profit. Most hunting for coconut crabs on Palmerston is done at night with the use of flashlights and is reported to be most successful when there is no moon and the ground is wet with recent rain. However, some can still be caught on moonlit nights or during the day by digging up the holes or smoking the crabs out. There are moon phases (arapo) when crabs and lobsters are thought to be most plentiful, these peak periods occur around the new and full moons. The best times for finding coconut crabs are considered to be the 3 nights following the new moon. It is not known how many coconut crabs are found in the Cook Islands. People on Palmerston suggest that coconut crabs are becoming scarce on some islets of the atoll, this decline is probably seen throughout the Cooks. Are the coconut crabs in trouble? There is
