The amateur marron fishery in Western Australia

The amateur fishery in south-western Australia for marron, Cherax tenuimanus, the third largest Australian and world freshwater crayfish, is described, including the history of management regulations and the legal methods of capture of marron (scoop nets, drop nets and snares) in rivers and dams. Catch and effort data were obtained from research log books over the period 1971 to 1976. From the inception of the Inland Fisherman\u27s License, largely intended for marron, in 1970, the number of licenses rose steeply from 6,500 to 20,000 by 1975. The calculated total annual catch by the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons was about 470,000 kg and the catch/effort curve was approaching a maximum. Estimation of the possible sources of bias in the estimates derived from log book data was found to be extremely difficult because of lack of co-operation in supplying information by most, and particularly by unsuccessful, licence holders