Operating a crab fishery

Have your say on proposed fishery management reforms for the commercial C1 crab fishery (east coast and Gulf of Carpentaria) to avoid additional pressure on this sector following the phase-out of gillnet fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

In Queensland, commercial crab fishers predominantly operate in 3 different fisheries:

The fishery is managed through:

  • legislation
  • licence requirements
  • working groups
  • harvest strategies
  • gear restrictions
  • quota requirements.

Fishery symbols

  • C1: Other than spanner crab
  • C2: Spanner crabs (managed area A)
  • C3: Spanner crabs (managed area B)

Operating areas

Mud crabs and blue swimmer crabs (C1):

  • EC1: East coast mud crab
  • GC1: Gulf of Carpentaria mud crab
  • BC1: Blue swimmer crab (all of Queensland).

Spanner crabs (C2 and C3):

  • C2: Managed area A
  • C3: Managed area B.

Management

Quota

The crab fishery is a quota-managed fishery:

  • total allowable catch (TAC) quota for each management region:
    • EC1 – east coast mud crab
    • GC1 – Gulf of Carpentaria mud crab
    • BC1 – blue swimmer crab (all of Queensland)
    • Spanner crabs Managed area A (C2)
    • Spanner crabs Managed area B (C3)
  • individual transferable quotas (ITQs).
  • Last reviewed: 13 Feb 2024
  • Last updated: 15 Mar 2024