That does not sound good to me at all

Banning night time scooping? its been one of my favourite things to do for years

No females until after march 1 is stupid the females outnumber the males easily so what do they want to do, make that gap even bigger by people only keeping the males. Rules made by people who have no clue.

i like the ban, not sure about the night time scooping tho

if it were upto me, the crabbing in mandurah should be banned until jan 1st. Crabs down there arent big enough until then. they need a chance to grow

you could keep the ban untill jan 1st but these new fees we are going to pay to (free) fishing shouldnt that be going to more fisheries and boats to patrol the waters to stop these people taken more than what they need ie;woodmans point 20+pinkies in one day any way you will probely find we should have big crabs come through this yr with all the rain we have had just remember people only take what you need 

cheers capt jack

Fingers crossed the season is better than last year.Yes hopefully the rain will help, and it will warm up a bit earlier this year. I think the ban is a great idea. Give them a chance to grow.

mandurah has always been a popular spot for crabs and unfortunately the numbers of crabs over the years have copped a beating, only taking the male crabs imo has had a detrimental effect by reducing the population over time as it has left less males to breed . i believe it need a complete ban on crab fishing in mandurah for 1 year to give the crabs a chance to recover from being overfished for so many years. you get most people only taking what they need but you do get a lot taking what they want and in many cases way too many.i have only been crabbing a few times but i have noticed the stock reduction dramatically. 

Consultation and Research Data for proposed Mandurah Crab Closure



There have been media reports about "Public consultation" on a proposed extension of the Mandurah crab closure. See http://www.westernangler.com.au/forum/fb.asp?m=228578 for some background



The time frame is very short (wanted by 25 September) without giving the public access to the research information they need to give properly informed comments.



OK, so here's access to the letter to stakeholders and the research information.



http://www.recfishwest.org.au/PeelHarveyCrab2009.htm



You will note the heading "Research Data Regarding A Seasonal Crabbing Closure In Area II Of The West Coast Estuarine Fishery (Peel-Harvey Estuary)" which immediately had me thinking "OK, does this mean they have decided the answer, and here's the justification?"



I would have much preferred it to be "Research Data Regarding OPTIONS FOR MANAGING Crabbing In Area II Of The West Coast Estuarine Fishery (Peel-Harvey Estuary)"



Now you know. Go to it. Here's a chance for forum readers to put in informed comments. Use it, please



Comments to Recfishwest, please, PO Box 34, North Beach, WA 6920,  9246 3366, Email



with copy to Andy Warmbrunn, Department of Fisheries, 3rd floor, The Atrium, 168 St Georges Terrace, Perth, 6000



TerryF

=====

Beavering away in the background.......



You need Recfishwest to look after your recreational fishing future.



Who else has time, knowledge, professional approach, realistic alternatives, willingness and contacts?



Become a member www.recfishwest.org.au/MembershipDet.htm

Russ,

I hear what your saying but i dont totally agree with the the numbers declining due to all the males being taken.

Last year the number of females caught still didnt out weigh the number of males caught (my experience).

But the male sizes were very small, it used to eb a few eyars ago you didnt need to leasure any crbs as you could tell they were big enough. But the last couple years this has changed, sizes have dropped dramatically. If only the crabs were the size fo the swan blue's.....

Size was down last year and the amount of males. We always go snorkelling for them so you see how many are around. The amount of small females i feel increased last season for sure..there were everywhere.

The crab season before was loaded with crabs.Lots of big males, and you got your bag limit easy each trip. Not sure if it had something to do with rain, later warmer temps last year, but something is happening with the numbers.

Im not keen on a total ban. As the crabbing industry means alot to the Mandurah local economy. Im all for a later season for us and the pros.

may need to bring some of those males to all the huge female at my spots bodie so they can get some action

ive been crabbing down mandurah for over 16 17 yrs and i can remember going down there in october catching big crabs and lots of them now its drop right away to minimal crabs are just size and not very full of meat the females are most of them are just under size and were not catching them till mid jan now maybe this is just not from people reaping the crabs maybee it has something to do with mandurah extending its suburbs reclaiming water must have something to do with crabs not growing to full size and the amount coming in every yr, have a look at mandurah 10 15 yrs ago how small it was and not much water was reclaimed now have a look at alll the canels with homes on them its not good for the system and how many times does the water quality go to shit because there is not a good system to clean the water out when they opened dawsville cut it was bloody good fishing crabbing but now with alll these new homes on reclaimed water the flushing out of the river isnt as good the water is always milky colour its not good so in saying all this i think its not just the people fishing it every thing else comes into it maybe they need a new flushing system what do you people think i think im on the right track

capt jack

FACT - the Dawesville Channel openned in April 1994 ! Fact - Mandurah is one of the fastest growing Regional CITIES in Australia. Fact - the fishery has declined elsewhere on the West Coast Bioregion of past recent years. How much is attrbutable to each cause is at this stage unkonwn by DoF "researchers". I have grown up in Mandurah and fished the Peel-Harvey for many years and personally know several pros. If closing it will help, then sure do it. But will it help??

Recfishwest has sent its response to the proposed extended closure of the Peel Harvey crab fishery. http://www.recfishwest.org.au/PeelHarveyCrab2009.htm