World’s Largest Blue Crab: Rockport, Texas, sets world record

May 20, 2022

ROCKPORT, Texas, United States--The Big Blue Crab, a.k.a. the World’s Largest Blue Crab, is located on Laurel Street and along Little Bay and near Rockport beach; made of stainless steel, is about 6,000 pounds and measuring at 27 feet by 25 feet wide, it sets the world record for being the World's Largest Blue Crab, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

"The project took 4 years to complete, spanning a concerted effort of many dedicated volunteers. Joe Barrington is the award-winning artist that designed this new landmark sculpture lovingly called “The Big Blue Crab," the Rockport Fulton reports.

Callinectes sapidus, the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally.

Callinectes sapidus, the blue crab, is of considerable culinary and economic importance in the USA, particularly in Louisiana, the Carolinas, the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware, and New Jersey. It is the Maryland state crustacean and the state's largest commercial fishery. Due to overfishing and environmental pressures some of the fisheries have seen declining yields, especially in the Chesapeake Bay fishery.

Rockport is a city in Aransas County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat.

The Big Blue Crab
The Big Blue Crab is a local park and attraction located on the banks of Little Bay next to the historic Sea View Motel. It features an elevated blue crab sculpture that is the world's largest. Originally constructed in the 1950s, the crab fell apart in the 1970s, but the city rebuilt the attraction in 2012 to even larger proportions.

The crab suffered major damage five years later in Hurricane Harvey. As the community got well on its way to restoring and cleaning up the damage left from the storm a group was formed and begin plans to have a new Crab Built and set in the place of the old one.

The crab arrived in Aransas County on Tuesday, July 27 and installation began July 28th, 2021.

""Rockport is in fact resilient," said Lindsay Horton. "The people that are here are resilient. They are a resilient community," the KSAT TV reports.

"This is probably the coolest roadside attraction in Rockport, not that there are a lot of wacky roadside attractions in the area," kernut.com reports.

All photos: RockportFulton.com

Big Blue Crab

1580 E Laurel St, Rockport, TX 78382

Directions: On the waterfront, at the entrance to Rockport Beach Park, on the corner of Seabreeze Drive and E. Laurel St.

The GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the Largest horseshoe crab was set by the Atlantic horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus, which measures up to 60 cm long. It is native to the northern Atlantic coast of North America and the Gulf of Mexico.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS also recognized the world record for the heaviest (and largest) land-living crustacean; it is the robber or coconut crab (Birgus latro), which lives on tropical islands and atolls in the Indo-Pacific.