Mud Crab Fishing Controls

Minimum Size Limit and Protection of Berried Females

What it means

Do not keep a:

• male mud crab that measures less than 130 mm across the carapace or a female mud crab that measures less than 140 mm across the carapace; or
• berried female (a female which has eggs attached under the abdominal flap).
• Female mud crabs of a legal size without eggs may be kept.

Why it is needed

Minimises fishing pressure on immature mud crab so that more have a chance to live long enough to breed.

Protects reproducing females.

Possession Limits

What it means

The limit of mud crabs in possession, other than in a place of permanent residence is 10 per person, up to a maximum of 30 mud crabs per boat. That is, one person may be in possession of 10 mud crabs, two people may be in possession of 20 and three or more people may be in possession of a maximum of 30 mud crabs.

You must stop crabbing if you have taken, or have in your possession, the limit.

Why it is needed

Reduce recreational crabbing pressure.

Assists enforcement officers in detecting unlicensed crabbers taking commercial quantities of mud crab.

Fishing Gear

What it means

Recreational crabbers may use up to 5 pots per person with a maximum of 10 pots per vessel even if there are more than 2 people on the vessel.

A float with the users name clearly marked on it, must be attached to each pot. A pot must not be greater than one metre in either length or diameter or have a capacity of more than one half of a cubic metre.

The use of pots which are constructed of entanglement material, such as witches hat pots or suicide dillies, are prohibited.

Why it is needed

Reduces total recreational crabbing pressure.

Assists in detecting illegal pots.

Eliminates damage that may be caused to crabs entangled in these pot types.

Exclusive Areas for Amateur Crabbers

What it means

Areas open exclusively for the use of recreational crabbers are: upstream of the mouths of Leaders Creek, Howard River, King Creek, Micket Creek, Buffalo creek, and the waters of Darwin Harbour, landward of closure line which extends from Mandorah Jetty to Lee Point.

It should be noted that the mud flats between the creeks and rivers in Shoal Bay listed above are open to commercial crabbing.

Why it is needed

Be excluding commercial crabbing in areas near Darwin which are heavily fished by recreational crabbers the total crabbing effort is reduced and the possibility of localised overfishing is reduced.

The possession of traps is prohibited in Kakadu National Park. Contact Parks Australia North for advice (Kakadu HQ phone 8938 1100).

This advice does not replace the controls in the Mud Crab Fishery Management Plan; but is meant to show their general intent.

Minimum Carapace Size Limit

Exclusive Areas for Recreational Crabbers

How to tell Female from Male Mud Crabs

This is a simple process and even a novice mud crabber can easily differentiate between the two sexes.

To tell the sex of a mud crab it is necessary to turn the crab upside down and look at the abdominal flap, as male and female mud crabs have noticeably different shaped flaps.

Female mud crabs have a broad pigmented flap, where as males have a narrow unpigmented flap.

Underside view of a female mud crab showing a broad pigmented abdominal flap.

Underside view of a male mud crab showing a narrow unpigmented flap.

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