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Ocean Sand Crab occurs around Australia's southerly coastlines from approximately Wide Bay in QLD to Rottnest Island in WA (including TAS). Of the three jurisdictional stocks reported here, those in SA and WA are classified as sustainable, while the NSW stock is classified as undefined.

Ocean Sand Crab is distributed in Australia from Wide Bay in Queensland around the south and east coasts to Rottnest Island in Western Australia, including Tasmanian Waters [Kailola et al. 1993].

In South Australia, the commercial fishery for Ocean Sand Crab is heavily concentrated in and around Coffin Bay on the West Coast, and catches have also occurred in Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf [Steer et al. 2020]. Commercial fishing for Ocean Sand Crab in Western Australia is currently focused on nearshore waters in and around the south coastal town of Albany.

The biological stock delineation of Ocean Sand Crab remains unclear. Here, assessment of stock status is presented at the jurisdictional level—South Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales.

New South Wales

In NSW Ocean Sand Crab is caught as by-product of the Ocean Trawl Fishery (OTF), mainly from waters north of Coffs Harbour. This fishery has produced > 90 per cent of the catch of the catch of Ocean Sand Crab in NSW since 2009–10. Reported landings declined from 9.6 tonnes (t) (2013–14) to 3.2 t (2017–18) and the 1.2 t landed in 2018–19 was well below the 10-year average landings of 5.5 t. Standardised commercial catch rates (in mean CPUE kg.day^-1) is likely to be the most reliable index of relative abundance for Sand Crab. For recent data analysed as mean daily catch rates (available from 2009–10 to 2018–19), catch rates have declined and were below the 10-year average over the last two years. Recreational catch is unknown [Murphy et al. 2020]. There are no data available to estimate biomass or exploitation rates. In addition, there is no knowledge on recruitment or harvestable biomass. This prevents assessment of current stock size or fishing pressure. Consequently, there is insufficient information available to confidently classify the status of this stock.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, Ocean Sand Crab in NSW is classified as an undefined stock.
 

New South Wales – Indigenous (Management Methods) https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/aboriginal-fishing

New South Wales – Recreational (Catch) Murphy et al. [2020].

Western Australia - 2017–18 boat based recreational catch nil [Ryan et al. 2019]

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