Hi all just wondering if anybody has ever trapped spanner crabs befor ? of course i mean like a crab trap not the typicaly used dillie/frame
ive just been mucking around in the shed thinking of a design that would trap the crabs so just wondering if anybody has and the type of trap it was cought in :cool:
I think the pro sand crabbers get a few in there traps
Forgot to say thanks !!!
Cheers Craig
Why not just use a frame like the pro's do? It works well, otherwise the pro's wouldn't be using them.
Dave.
Hi dave i am a commerical fishermen and do use dillies as i said i was just going through some ideas outside the box, if we could trap spanners it would have large benerfits to the industry, and more importantly the crabs
Cheers craig
Ahh, no probs. The undersized spanners do cop a bit of a hiding when there's no good crab on the frames. I worked on a spanner boat out of Bundy for a while about 12 years ago.
Cheers,
Dave.
Traps are dead easy to make, problem is they are illegal. I made a few out of wire and had the fishery look over it and knocked it on the head, for what its worth PM me for construction details if you want to push the barrow and change their mind, The wire base are very user friendly and good for quick release of under size critters
Humility is not a weather condition.
yeah guys the smalls do get knocked around a bit i would like to see that design of the trap , did you ever use it ? did it work ? ,
The nsw dpi would be open to submissions and trials if it reduce the damage we cause , even offer grants etc etc . even if it just the crabs that get eatern / die while cought on the net's
Cheers Craig
There is a research paper showing how over a few hours almost all Spanners either quit before reaching the bait or fed and did not get tangled. I am playing with a converted mesh pot with gutterguard ramps that might work but I have not had a chance to try it yet. Commercial spanner crab fishers are restricted to frame /mesh traps
A Proud Member of
"The Rebel Alliance"
Originally Posted by crab man
I caught these before using the proper and regulated rectangular frame specifically designed by Crab'n'gear at Clontarf. These are the same traps used by commerical and recreational alike.
I too worked in the industry so I know what I'm talking about and so will you if you have or currently are. All traps are used with monofilament. Works very well as long as you work out what depth and contour line they are in. Never caught in any other trap that I'm aware of.
Mate no offence but i think i covered that i know the best ways of catching them , im a commerical spanner crabber and have so been for the last 5 years , im just intrested in trapping them to see if there is a reduced death rate in smalls returned to the ocean and a better effot unit return .
Cheers Craig
It looks like commercial crabbers are restricted to the regulated rectangular frame dilly as "retention is not permitted as a result of capture by any apparatus other than prescribed spanner crab nets or dillies"
"Recreational fishers may take spanner crabs with any prescribed “crab apparatus” as defined in the Management Plan. These include crab pots, collapsible traps, dillies and inverted dillies."
I think you could scrap the WH dillies from that now.
They often trap Red Frog Crabs which are the same as our Spanners
Here is a good bit of research into the matter
A Proud Member of
"The Rebel Alliance"
Thanks for that ill check out that link in a min ,
Im not bothered if its legal or not , the nsw dpi are pretty fair if you were to call them submit your design then trial it and once again submit those results , they just really dont like suprises .
And im licened fish trapper so if the mesh is 50mm or bigger its totaly leagle they carnt police the bi-catch i catch and carnt police where i set my traps , if i were "silly" enouth to set one on the sand hoping a snapper swims into it lol
Cheers Craig
Interesting read , and kind of what i had heard / thinking that they work just catch less , but catch up to dillies with longer soaking time and much better for the crabs , interesting subject for me anyways haha
My father used to make traps for crabs and I can't see that spanners would be any different, I will try to explain how he made them (I guess someone else has also made them) it is a simple rectangular wire "cage" with one short end completely open, the inlet is so simple, all it requires is a ramp made the width of the short side and goes from the bottom almost to the top at an angle, the crabs walk up this ramp and "drop" to the bottom to get the bait, then unless they crawl upside down to get out along the top of the cage,(and I guess some do) they just hit the bottom of the ramp, get the idea?
No offence mate and none taken,
I too have been in the game for 15 years
I use to have a commonwealth fisheries licence some time ago. I was pointing out the regs as you would know and as well as Horse stated about the regs.
If there was any scientific investigations or trials using different trap designs through a cojoint initiative of DPI Fisheries Research and Universities I'm sure they would have come up with some other design that would reduce mortality, crab legs and claws do grow back if they break off from the snares.
Maybe you could take this up with CRABMAC and put in a proposal, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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