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Blue crabs will spawn when they molt. When they have shed their shell, they usually hunker down because that's when they're most susceptible to predators. A molting female blue crab lets off pheremones because it's then ready to mate. The "jimmies" or male blue crabs will key in on those pheremones, but so will gamefish (which is why shedder oil and shedder crabs are such a popular bait in NJ and south). Shedder blue crabs were automatic for targeting weakfish.
After they mate, the females will develop the sponge and on large moon tides swim to a pond entrance or inlet and release the eggs, which will develop as larvae offshore before moving into the backwaters to live.
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