The hotly anticipated annual summer crabbing season on the lower west coast gets underway this Sunday, 1 December, and has some extra spice this year for crustacean connoisseurs with Cockburn Sound reopening for crabbing!
Getting access back to the iconic crab fishery is something Recfishwest has advocated for more than a decade and it was great to hear the Minister for Fisheries announce the reopening of the Sound for recreational crabbing supported by the latest stock assessment.
Before you get your nets, scoops or diving gear ready to try gather a feed of these delicious critters, it’s important to be across the new rules detailed below. For more information, make sure you download the Recfishwest app.
Cockburn Sound crabbing area
The map below details where you can go crabbing within Cockburn Sound between 1 December, 2024 and 31 August, 2025. Note that crabbing in Rous Head is not permitted.
Bag and boat limit
A bag limit of 5 crabs per person applies to Cockburn Sound waters up to North Mole and the boat limit is 20 crabs with four or more licensed fishers on board. These are the same rules that apply in the Swan and Canning rivers. The 127mm minimum carapace width size limit still applies.
Be mindful of when you go crabbing
While the green light arrives for crabbing in the Swan and Canning rivers, Cockburn Sound, Peel-Harvey system and to south of Bunbury on Sunday 1 December, bear in mind that many crabs will still be undersize given the relatively cool spring we had.
This means it might be worth considering focusing crabbing efforts to later in summer once the water has warmed up some more and the crabs have had a chance to moult. This also means your catches are more likely to be of legal size.
The annual three-month closure of crabbing for Perth (including Cockburn Sound) and the South West (down to Rich Road, 15km south of Bunbury) comes into effect from 1 September to 30 November each year.
Stay safe while diving and be prop aware
Given some crabbers may be diving beneath the surface to grab crabs by hand with boats moving above their heads, it is essential divers and skippers are prop-aware to maximise safety.
Propellers can cause serious damage or death to divers. Click here to see some great tips on being prop-aware.
If you’re diving for crabs, also remember to stay safe by diving with a friend, stay within comfortable limits of one another, don’t push yourself and dive with a float and dive flag attached.
