Spanner crabs are harvested in offshore waters between the New South Wales border to Gladstone in central Queensland. Spanner crabs are primarily harvested using ‘dilly’ type crab pots.

The Queensland spanner crab fishery operates under a state of the art management plan, developed with the input of fisheries authorities, scientists, commercial fishers and other stakeholders.

The spanner crab fishery was one of the 1st three fisheries in Australia to receive environmental accreditation by the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The management plan places an overall limit on catches in the fishery to ensure that fishermen only harvest what nature can replace. The plan also places limits on the amount each individual can catch each year through an individual transferable quota (ITQ) system.

Spanner crab fishers work closely with fisheries authorities and fisheries scientists to ensure that catches remain sustainable, and that the quota system is policed effectively.

Through their licence fees spanner crab fishers help fund research to manage the fishery sustainably.