Blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus, Linnaeus 1758) capture fisheries

Introduction

The blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) is alarge species of crab that is widely distributedthroughout tropical and subtropical waters (Zainal,2013; Kunsook et al., 2014). It is an importantcommercial species for coastal communities that relyon fisheries for their livelihoods. Its importance isfurther emphasized by FAO (2013), which reportsthat the blue swimming crab is one of the top crabspecies caught globally, contributing significantly toboth local and international seafood markets. Theblue swimming crab fishery plays a significant role inthe coastal economies of many countries, particularlythroughout the Indo-Pacific region, including thePhilippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, andothers, as it provide support to the livelihoods ofmany fishermen and fishing communities, providingmeans of income and sustenance.

In the Philippines, the blue swimming crab fishery isa significant sub-sector of the crustacean fishery andplays a vital role in the socio-economic aspect in thecountry (BFAR, 2013). In 2016, the blue swimmingcrab was considered as a major fishery exportcommodity with a total volume of 4,200 metric tonsand value of USD 55 million (PSA, 2016). In the firstquarter of 2018, the blue swimming crab fisheriesproduction in the Philippines amounted to 5,923.67metric tons. This production volume represented acontribution of 0.01% to the total fisheries productionin the country (PSA, 2018).

Blue swimming crab fishing in the Philippines has arich history dating back to the 1950s (Mesa et al.,2018). The fishery is characterized as a multi-gearactivity, primarily practiced by artisanal crab fisherswho employ various techniques to capture blueswimming crabs. These methods include gleaning, theuse of bamboo traps, crab lift nets (Gadhavi et al.,2013), crab pots, and gill nets (Del Norte-Campo etal., 2004; Ingles, 2004; Germano and Melgo, 2003).In shallow waters, the most commonly used artisanalgear is the crab pot, but crabbers also employ othermethods such as bottom set gillnets, otter trawls, crablift nets, and push nets (Mesa et al., 2018). Thewestern Visayan Sea, in particular, is known to have adiverse range of eleven different fishing gear typesutilized for catching blue swimming crab (Ingles,2004; Mesa et al., 2018), with five of these gearsbeing considered as major tools used by crabbers.

In Bohol, blue swimming crab fishing has been asource of livelihood among Boholano fishermen.Accordingly, the blue swimming crab fishery in Boholis also characterized as a multi-gear fishery. However,the fishing gears, gear operations, and fishingpractices are not well documented. Thus, this studyaimed to determine the capture fisheries practices inthe four northern crabbing municipalities in Bohol.Specifically, this study aimed to determine thedemographic profile of the crab fishers, types offishing gears, crabbing practices and operations,fisheries management, and problems and challengesfaced by the crab fishers in the ground level.