Crabbing in West Bay

Published by Editor on September 4, 2019September 4, 2019

For decades families have been crabbing around the harbour. Recently there have been so many folk in search of the local crustaceans that getting around some parts of the harbour has proved quite challenging!

Many of our visitors aren’t familiar with the coast or the needs of the animals that live here. What should be a couple of hours of fun can cause all sorts of problems. Rubbish left behind: discarded plastic buckets, weights, string and so forth, which are an environmental nuisance, especially if they make their way into the water.

Last week there were bits of dead crab strewn all around one area on east pier and one child was seen actually stamping on his catch. Some people are still using hooks, which can get caught on sea birds and fish and often there is a general disregard for the fact that the harbour is a working harbour with frequent boat traffic and no barriers.

It was great to overhear Colin who is currently running the stall selling crabbing equipment, offering sound advice to those buying their kit from him, for example, how they should use harbour water, not tap water, and change it frequently. Thanks too to Colin and Tim in the newsagents for taking our crabbing leaflets to hand out with purchases, which we hope will help with advice when it comes to crabbing around West Bay’s harbour.

Our crabbing leaflet is also available in the Discovery Centre. There’s advice on the equipment to use, how to sex your crabs, how many to keep in a bucket together and how to release them responsibly so that they live to get caught again tomorrow!