Do you know how to correctly mark your crab traps?
Over the past 12 months fisheries officers patrolling coastal waters have seized over 1340 crab traps, estimated to have a total cost in excess of $40,000 to buy. The vast majority of these traps were not marked correctly or not marked at all.
It’s not hard to mark your crab trap - • Put a float on it - at least 100mm in diameter. • Write the letters ‘CT’, your first initial and surname, the year you were born and your postcode on the float in a contrasting colour, and • Put a 50 gram weight on the rope, no more than 1 metre from the float. This prevents excess rope floating on the surface and stops other water users getting tangled up in your fishing gear.
It's a simple thing to mark your traps, and at an estimated $30 a trap, it’s cheaper to mark them correctly than to have Fisheries Officers seize them.
For more information on crab trap closures across the state, check out our district recreational crabbing guides at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/resources/info .
DPI Fisheries are conducting ‘Operation Portunus’ to raise awareness of the rules and regulations when fishing for crabs and prawns in NSW coastal waters. Source
© State of New South Wales through NSW Department of Industry
