Status of Blue Swimmer Crab (Portunus spp.) Fishing in Chang Hoan and Kep Thmey Fisheries Community, Kampot Province

Abstract

Blue swimmer crab plays a significant role for the people living around the coastal zone which provides foods, income for liveli-hood. Unsustainable use of fishery resources and lack of food security by human activities and environment factors drove the degradation of these species. So, the study aimed to: identify the kind of fishing gears and the way of fishing blue swimmer crab, identify the average yield of blue swimmer crab, and show the blue swimmer crab market. The study selected 2 different Community Fisheries (CFi) from 2 communes and 14 fishermen from Keb Thmey Fisheries Communi-ty and 25 fishermen from Chang Hoan CFi, 10 middlemen, 2 chief communities from each Fisheries Communities were interviewed. The simple yields, moreover, were recorded in Chang Hoan CFi every morning and Keb Thmey CFi in the even-ing for 4 months. The results showed that crab trap and trawling have been used in both areas for catching blue swimmer crab, but trawling is not commonly used. In Keb Thmey CFi, the average yields per day of blue swimmer crabs were caught by crab trap: 15.77 kg/boat in March, 16.45 kg/boat in April, 13.93 kg/boat in May, and 8.09 kg/boat in June. On the other hand, trawling was used to collect blue swimmer crab in Chang Hoan CFi; in average were 1.01 kg/boat in March, 1.09 kg/boat in April, and 0.89 kg/boat in May. Whereas the yield from the crab traps were 6.72 kg/boat in March, 5.05 kg/boat in April, 5.05 kg/boat in May and 4.44 kg/boat in June. Usually, blue swimmer crabs were classified into 3 classes. The first and second classes were purchased by middlemen who delivered to the crab strip shop, retailer and Kampot and Vealrihn markets. The third class was sold to the crab peelers. In conclusion, crab trap is commonly used for catching crab all year round. The variation of total is according to time, weather, place and the number of fishing gears. The average catch in March and April is more than that in May and June.