Giant Mud Crab | 2021

Giant mud crabs (Scylla serrata) are one of Sri Lanka’siconic seafood products; highly sought after by internationally accredited restaurants and top hotelsin Singapore and Colombo. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries in South and South East where the giant mud crab (GMC) is more abundant than it’s less sought-after relative, the orange mud crab (S. olivacea). Relatively short lived (< 4 yrs) but enormous (> 3.0 kg), giant mud crabs -as their name suggests - are chunky marine crustaceans. GMC are found in shallow tropical and sub-tropical waters over muddy substrates associated with mangroves in the Western and Eastern Indian Ocean, South East Asia and West Asia.

pelagikosis currently working with fishing communities, local agents and the Department of Fisheries and AquaticResources toresearch, develop and implement a management plan for GMC fisheries in the Palk Bay (Mannar District) and on the Sri Lanka's east coast (Batticaloa District). The project is implemented in partnership with Blue Resources Trust and financed by Oceans5.

Preliminary assessments of the fisheries using a length based approach to estimate spawning potential (LBSPR) indicate that new, collaborative management measures are necessary to improve the biological status of the two stocks.

• Palk Bay South Stock Assessment 2021
• East Coast Stock Assessment 2022