Crabbing in Warnbro sound, where did they go
Submitted by Gman66 on Mon, 2015-03-23 07:22
living close to Warnbro sound it's always been expected to get. Few decent feeds of crabs over the summer. This year I worked harder than ever, snorkelled, drop netted and scooped for very few crabs. I limited myself somewhat as I don't take females even if they are size.
Bent street jetty and the duck pond got hammered, There was plenty of undersized crabs taken off the jetty and my belief is the same thing was occurring in the duck pond.
Regardless of the above there just didn't seem to be the amount of crabs around. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, maybe I was just unlucky..........
Cheers
G
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Acceptance is the key
RobertMc
Posts: 326
Date Joined: 19/01/09
They are all hiding in the
They are all hiding in the protected zone in the next bay...
rigpig
Posts: 508
Date Joined: 21/11/12
pro-crabbing operating
There has been a pro-crabber operating in the sound. I was out on my boat a few weeks back and he had about three strings of big traps set out from Long Point and they have now been moved about 100 mtres out from the beach where the access ramp is along to Bent Street. I'm not saying he is totally to blame for lack of crabs in the sound but those big traps they use do have an impact on an area the size of Warnbro Sound..
Just my thoughts...
Notorious
Posts: 914
Date Joined: 23/02/12
Cockburn closure putting
Cockburn closure putting more pressure on Warnbro? Its been a couple seasons since its beeb good around there - we normally snorkel for them at night around there. Its been a while since I have last been.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/174055815943047/?fref=nf
FISH-ON
Posts: 469
Date Joined: 19/07/11
yeh the pros are i saw there
yeh the pros are i saw there pot a wile ago we went for a dive got 12 but took alot of time and moving of moving around
Be patient and calm - for no one can catch fish in anger
quadfisher
Posts: 1146
Date Joined: 28/09/10
Never thought I would
Jumping in to defend a pro!
But if its the same guy that was working the sound a couple of years back , I will.
I bought some occy pots off him , and he really was a decent bloke, just trying to scrape a living , and
supply a need in the community, as not all wont or can catch a decent feed of blues like we can.
His take on it , which Im inclined to side on , is boom / bust cylic seasons, and maybe some water quality too.
Im not saying his take , is not affecting the numbers , but pro crabbers have been about for many many years ,
and this was a very sudden drop in numbers , prompting a sudden 12 month ban by fisheries.
The areas we have snorkled in still look healthly with plenty of marine life and seagrass beds , but same as you compared to
a couple of years back , they really have just disappeared!
If over fishing was the only culprit ( removing size blues) , we would be seeing alot more little crabs wouldnt we? , bit like bream fishing in Moore river.
And strange how you say warnbo is leen as well , suggesting its a marine hiccup , not a estuary one as , we had no such probs at mandurah this year.
thoughts?
quadfisher
rigpig
Posts: 508
Date Joined: 21/11/12
not sure what is happening
I live two streets back from Warnbro sound in Waikiki and have done ok on crabs in the past. This year was just awful. To get a few I towed the boat to the Swan River near the Raffles or down to the Harvey Estuary. I'm not sure what is going on but I have caught some monster size blues in the river and only took six each time they were that big. Down in Harvey it was a bit tougher to get a feed but I mixed it up with scooping and drop netting. Using the same baits in Warnbro produced very little. You are probably correct in that it is very cyclic and that the pro-fisher is not all to blame. I'm not sure what is going on in the area. Mates of mine who put cray pots in around the Warnbro area cleaned up on crays this year but there are bugger all crabs around????????