Crab fisheries


Crab fisheries are fisheries which capture or farm crabs. True crabs make up 20% of all crustaceans caught and farmed worldwide, with about 1.4 million tonnes being consumed annually. The horse crab, Portunus trituberculatus, accounts for one quarter of that total. Other important species include flower crabs, snow crabs, blue crabs, edible or brown crabs, Dungeness crab, and mud crabs, each of which provides more than 20,000 tonnes annually.

Commercial catch

The FAO groups fishery catches using the ISSCAAP classification. ISSCAAP has a group for crabs and sea-spiders, and another group for king crabs and squat lobsters.
The following table summarises crab production from 2000 to 2008, both caught wild and from aquaculture, in tonnes.

Crabs and sea-spiders