A new on-the-water program is shining a spotlight on the state’s largest commercial fishery, one found right here in eastern North Carolina: blue crab.

“North Carolina, right now, goes back forth with Louisiana as the largest blue crab fishery in the U.S., so it’s kind of cash crop for fisheries,” said Russ Chesson, the North Carolina Estuarium’s operations and programming specialist. “It’s the No. 1 fishery in North Carolina, for sure. This is a way to highlight that and talk about the history and culture of it.”

Chesson is talking about the Estuarium’s new “Crab Cruises,” offered on Tuesdays throughout the summer. Anyone six years old and older can hop aboard the Estuarium’s pontoon boat for an educational crabbing tour of the Pamlico River. Unlike the museum’s River Roving Tours, which head up the Tar River to explore its many tributaries, Crab Cruises head downriver to Chocowinity Bay, exploring instead, the lifecycle of the blue crab, and how they’re caught and harvested.

While volunteer captains demonstrate how crabbing gear works on the hour and half-long tours, the real focus is simply on teaching people about the fishery that’s so close to home.

”Right now, we’re focusing more on educating, as opposed to catching them. Seasonally, they’re not this far up the river, either,” Chesson said. “It’s a great subject matter and really informative. People have gone (on the tour) and raved about it.”

The tour curriculum, put together by Chesson and resident Estuarium AmeriCorps member Nick Tolopka, serves to essentially bridge the gap between those working the river and recipients of the river’s bounty.

“We all know people (who crab), we’ve seen people on the boats. We’ve seen the crab pots, but to know about the crab, the lifecycle, leads to good stewardship for the crab crop — just knowing what the people around us do,” Chesson said.

Two Crab Cruises are offered each Tuesday: at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Children under the age of 16 should be accompanied by an adult. The tours are free, but donations are accepted. Registration is required.

For more information about Crab Cruises, or to sign up for one, call 252-948-0000.