The status of blue swimming crab stocks in the Indo-West Pacific is poor. Good data are lacking for many areas, but where assessments are available, many stocks are found to be fully exploited or overfished. Current fishing pressure is unsustainable across large parts of the species’ range.
Hand collection with diving equipment has little bycatch, but vulnerable (ETP) species such as seahorses may be caught. Discards are very limited and the catch consists almost entirely of target species. Hand collection causes no damage to the seabed and the risk of lost fishing gear is low. The effects of removing large quantities of crabs on the ecosystem are insufficiently known.
Management is considered insufficiently effective. Many countries have minimum size limits and protect egg-bearing females, but enforcement is often inadequate. There are also no effective measures to limit seahorse bycatch and overfishing.