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Mandurah, AU
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Crabbing Mandurah

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Crabbing

Crabbing in Mandurah

Mandurah has a 100-year history as a seafood center in Western Australia.
Blue swimmer crabs are native to Mandurah. The area is renowned for its excellent crabbing. Crabbing season opens every year on December 1 through to the end of August. Crabbing is of economic and social importance to the region, which was recognized in 2016 when the local recreational and commercial fishery was the first in the world to be jointly certified for its ecological sustainable fishing.

What You Need to Know

  • When to go crabbing & Rules

    Crabbing season opens on 1st December, just as the weather warms up for summer. By January the Peel-Harvey Estuary is swimming with full size crabs ready to be caught.

    Early morning or evening is the best time to catch them and you can go crabbing from a boat, a jetty using drop nets, or wade into the shallows with long-handled scoop nets.

    Crabbing season ends on 31st August.

    You don’t need a licence to catch crabs, however they can only be caught from 1st December to 31st August and there are minimum size and bag limit regulations.

    The minimum size limit is 127mm. The size of a crab is measured from the tips of its spikes across the widest part of the shell. Measure accurately using a crab gauge available from the Mandurah Visitor Centre and fishing tackle shops.

    Keeping undersize crabs or egg-carrying (‘berried’) females is illegal and you could be fined up to $5,000. These crabs must be returned to the water immediately, before attempting to catch another crab.

    The bag limit in the Mandurah area is 10 crabs per person per day. You must not catch crabs for anyone else. A bag limit of 20 crabs per boat per day applies.

    If you use a powered boat to fish for crabs or to reach your fishing location, at least one person on board needs a Recreational Fishing from Boat Licence (RFBL), available for purchase from the Department of Fisheries.

  • Where to buy crabs

    If you don’t have much luck catching your own crabs, you can buy fresh local crabs here:

    Wattsies Place

    • open 7 days a week from 8am to 5pm
    • Address: 2299 Old Coast Rd, Herron WA 6210
    • Cooked Crabs available daily. Raw Crabs only available Tues-Sat (24hrs notice required for raw crab orders).

    Fun Fact: Fishing in Mandurah since early 1890’s began with Alfred Loton Watts and wife Ester Watts (Nee Morfitt). Wattsies Place began trading approximately 46 years ago under a tree in the front yard of John & Diane’s house, since then the business has grown and prospered as Mandurah’s reputation for fresh seafood has spread. Visit Wattsies Place or pre-order via phone on (08) 9739 1065.

    Fisho Singleton

    • open Wed-Sun from 9am to 6pm.
    • Address: Corner of Singleton Beach Rd & Mandurah Rd, Singleton WA 6175
    • Crabs are sold fresh or cooked

    Fisho at Gilbert’s Fresh Market

    • open 7 days a week from 8am-5pm
    • Address:  13-15 Rouse Rd, Mandurah WA 6210.
    • Crabs are sold cooked only

How to handle and measure crabs

Check out this quick video on handling blue swimmer crabs responsibly. Measure as you go, releasing berried and undersize crabs gently and promptly. Your care ensures a future full of thriving crabs. Thanks for being a responsible visitor.