Spanner crab fishery
Fishery symbols
- C2: Spanner crabs (managed area A)
- C3: Spanner crabs (managed area B)
Management
Operating areas
Quota
The fishery is managed through quota for each management region:
- Managed area A
- total allowable commercial catch, reviewed once every 2 years while the harvest strategy is implemented
- individual transferable quota
- Managed area B
- basket limit.
Licences
To operate in the fishery, you need a:
- primary commercial fishing licence with the relevant fishery symbol
- commercial fisher licence for the person in charge of fishing activities.
Reporting and monitoring
All commercial crab fishers must:
- complete daily logbooks
- keep sale dockets
- have vessel tracking on their boats
- comply with state marine park and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning rules.
C2 licence holders must report:
C3 licence holders must report:
Closures
- All Queensland tidal waters closures apply.
- Annual closure from 1 November to 15 December (spanner crab spawning closure).
Equipment
Commercial fishers can only use dillies when taking spanner crabs.
Dillies limit:
- managed area A: 45 at a time if 1 fisher, or 75 if 2 or more fishers on board a boat
- managed area B: 35 at a time on board a boat.
Dillies must have:
- a maximum area of 1 square metre within the frame
- a maximum net drop of 10cm below the frame
- 1 layer of mesh only
- square or rectangular mesh with a minimum size of 25mm.
This fishing gear must be checked at least every 7 days after being set.
Take and size limits
- Take is limited to spanner crabs only.
- It is prohibited to take berried females (females carrying eggs) – they must be immediately returned to the water
- Minimum length of 10cm carapace length.
