In Western Australia, most of the annual blue swimmer crab commercial catch comes from Shark Bay. The Peel-Harvey Estuary is the most significant commercial crab fishery in the South West. For the most recent catch figures and values see the latest State of the fisheries report.
Crabs are caught commercially using a variety of fishing gear. Traditionally set (gill) nets or drop nets were used, however, purpose-designed crab traps are now used in most commercial fisheries. Crabs are also retained by the State’s trawl fisheries.
Commercial blue swimmer crab fisheries in the West Coast Bioregion are:
- Swan and Canning rivers (Area I), the Peel-Harvey Estuary (Area II)
and Hardy Inlet (Area III), which make up the West Coast Estuarine Managed
Fishery
- Cockburn Sound Crab Managed Fishery (currently closed).
In 2014 Cockburn Sound was closed following research that found the crab stock in the sound was depleted due to environmental and biological factors. A new stock assessmentin 2024 indicated that the stock can support a low
level of catch. Informed by this research, limited recreational crabbing will
resume from 1 December 2024. Commercial fishing for crab in Cockburn Sound
remains closed.
A
3 month closure remains in place from 1 September to 30 November each year in
coastal waters, rivers and estuaries from the Swan and Canning Rivers to
Minninup Beach (about 15 km south of Bunbury). This follows a 2018 review of
the South West Blue Swimmer Crab resource which found greater protection was
needed to protect the breeding stock.
Over
the past 5 years, the WA Government has also bought-back commercial fishing
licences in oceanic and embayment waters of the South West, including from the Warnbro
Sound Crab Managed Fishery and the Mandurah to Bunbury Developmental Crab
Fishery. Following the buyback process, commercial fishing in these areas was
closed to help protect the breeding stock.