Publication Date

1963

Series Number

Fisheries Report II (2)

Publisher

Western Australia Fisheries Department

City

Perth

Abstract

The Western Australian commercial crayfish, Panulinrus cy,nus George, (1962)", is caught in depths ranging from a few feet to approximately 45 fathoms. In the shallow waters large numbers of crayfish measuring, less than the legal minimum length are brought to the surface in the standard commercial crayfish pots. The law requires that these undersize crayfish be returned to the sea, but there is always the temptation to retain them for illegal sale. In addition, the undersize crayfish which are returned to the sea are often damaged by handling. The probability is that their mortality rate is higher than those which are not caught.

One method of lessoning: the taking of undersize crayfish is to use pots with escape gaps. However, for such a method to be successful the crayfish must either look for an escae route after feeding or be forced towards am escape gap as the pot is being pulled to the surface, Field experiments were carried out during March, 1963, using normal and escape pots to obtain information on these points. At the same time, underwater observations were made on the behaviour of crayfish in pots as they were being hauled to the sur/ace.

Number of Pages

16

Keywords

Escape -gaps cray pots, Crayfish, Survivability, Western Australia

Disciplines

Aquaculture and Fisheries | Environmental Monitoring | Marine Biology | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Sustainability

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