Project number: 2018-024
Project Status:
Current
Budget expenditure: $102,107.00
Principal Investigator: Paul Exley
Organisation: Department of Agriculture and Fisheries EcoScience Precinct
Project start/end date: 1 Apr 2019 - 27 Aug 2020
Contact:
FRDC
TAGS
Rac Nsw
Quality
Post Harvest
Mortality
Fisheries Management
SPECIES
Blue Swimmer Crab

Need

As the NSW fishing industry moves forward into the future with quota managed fisheries, there is a need for industry to develop procedures and process on catching, holding and transporting Blue swimmer crab that would value add to the wild harvest sector’s product – particularly for the live sales market.

The current market is predominantly made of sales of cooked and raw blue swimmer crabs. An approx. price range of blue swimmer crab for 2015 / 2016 was $8.50 $9.00 per kilo. The live trade in blue swimmer crab in 2016 / 2017 is approx. $20.00 per kilo. A move to selling into the live market would provide a better return for effort and would help in maximizing return on investment in the blue swimmer crab quota fishery.

The “Live Blue Swimmer Crab” trade is in its infancy and it is timely to invest in technologies that will assist in lowering the mortality rates of these animals. Any investment now will accelerate the development of this fishery and ensure the best chance for the restructure of the NSW fishery to achieve its goals.ie viability and efficient use of a quota species.

The industry needs to have an easy to read handling guideline developed and training workshops to improve their access to the market and reduce mortality rates.

Objectives

1. To produce handling guidelines and conduct a series of industry training workshops to reduce the mortality rate of blue swimmer crabs and thereby increase the volume of live product to market
2. To improve fishermen returns who adopt the guidelines and undertake the training provided