Crabbing Etiquette Question

[Gary_C]

I have been trying a new landbased spot for the past couple of days and have seen a good mix of crabs, 90% bucks and about 25% of those have been legal.

I went to check and reset my pots today and went a bit further along the bank when I saw a pot that was half out of the water. It had a name tag on it so I left it alone, but a bit further on there were 2 pots completely out of the water(nothing in them except a couple of puffer fish and chicken frames).

I left them alone, but I was wondering if I should have picked them up and tossed them into the water for the guy so he would have had a better chance at picking up some crabs or did I do the right thing by just leaving them alone?

[aussie123]

It is illegal to touch anyones gear,even if it is illegal gear.

As for being out of the water,a lot of crabbing places see your gear high and dry at low tides.

[Gary_C]

It is illegal to touch anyones gear,even if it is illegal gear.

As for being out of the water,a lot of crabbing places see your gear high and dry at low tides.

Thanks Lance. That is what I figured, but wanted confirmation in case there was an unwritten rule of sorts.

[Seiran]

My favourite crabbing location is only covered by water for about 2 hours at high tide.

In fact, I know where there are some pretty huge crab holes that only get covered by water when there are really high tides.

[Baptism]

any tips on finding some land based spots?

[Burko]

It is actually illegal to let your pots sit where they can dry out. i.e. exposed at low tide.

/>http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/documents/Fisheries_RecreationalFishing/Responsible-crabbing-in-Qld-DL-flyer.pdf

[dassa]

Hey Gary 1 way to stop people stealing you pots hahahaha

/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j2C7149xGA

[Seiran]

It is actually illegal to let your pots sit where they can dry out. i.e. exposed at low tide.

/>http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/documents/Fisheries_RecreationalFishing/Responsible-crabbing-in-Qld-DL-flyer.pdf

That's interesting, I didn't know they had to be completely covered at all times.

I often put mine up in the mangroves where they get exposed at low tide. I've always just made sure they were under cover so the crabs wouldn't get exposed to direct sun light.

I know of a few pro crabbers who do the same thing.