To ensure a sustainable marine ecology, the Fisheries Agency on Sunday imposed an annual three-month ban on fishing spawning crabs that is to run through Nov. 15.
Any egg-carrying crab that is captured, dead or alive, should be released into the sea, the agency said.
People or fishing vessels found in possession of egg-carrying crabs face fines of between NT$30,000 and NT$150,000, the agency said.
Crabs typically lay eggs multiple times throughout a year, so female crabs carrying eggs — also called “berried crabs” because the eggs resemble round berries — could be caught all year round, the agency said.
The peak mating season for crabs is from August to December, and so the government bans fishing berried crabs between Aug. 16 and Nov. 15 every year to allow female crabs to reproduce undisturbed and ensure a sustainable marine ecology and fishery resources, the agency said.
The agency added that the capture of the following crab species are prohibited all year round: Charybdis natator — a species of swimming crabs — that has a carapace no wider than 6cm; red frog crab, that has a carapace no wider than 6cm; and Charybdis feriatus, three-spot crab and flower crab, that have carapaces no wider than 8cm, the agency said.
The prohibition is to allow young crabs to mature and avoid capture and consumption of small crabs that have no economic value, it said.
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