Get ready for Murray crayfish season

Get ready for Murray crayfish season © VRFish

The start of winter on Sunday 1 June marks the start of one of the most anticipated fishing seasons on the freshwater fishing calendar - Murray spiny freshwater crayfish season!

This very limited season runs over winter, so you've got three months to try your luck at catching the world's second biggest freshwater crayfish.

Murray crayfish inhabits freshwater habitats ranging from clear, flowing streams to still, muddy pools, often hiding among submerged vegetation or rocky crevices.

Murray crayfish are mainly found in the Murray and Murrumbidgee River catchments and their tributaries. In Victoria, the Mitta Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens and Goulburn River catchments are the places to go to catch a feed of delicious crays.

There are number of rules and regulations that we must follow when targeting Murray crays to ensure a sustainable fishery for future generations. These are outlined on the Victorian Fisheries Authority's Murray Spiny Freshwater Crayfish page.

In particular, fishers should take care with the measurement of crayfish by making sure you have a gauge or callipers with you to measure them accurately. To measure a cray correctly, measure from the back of the eye socket to the rear of the carapace, which is the main body shell.

Murray crayfish are a slow growing species and take up to 9 years to reach legal length. They do not grow continuously, instead they grow in stages at each moult. They're typically more active during the winter months.

Murray crayfish breed once a year typically at the end of autumn when the water temperatures drop. After breeding occurs, the eggs or ova (berries) incubate under the tail of the female crayfish for 4-6 months. Once hatched, the juveniles remain for another 3-4 weeks, moulting twice, before leaving the mother.

With this in mind, it's important to remember that you can't take or possess female spiny freshwater crayfish carrying eggs (in berry), or remove their eggs. So, if you do catch a berried female, or a cray carrying young, return it to the water immediately.

Murray spiny freshwater crayfish open season runs from 1 June to 31 August annually and is only applicable to for waters north of the Great Dividing Range.

Cray with ruler - photo © VRFish

If you are planning to catch a cray this open season, the rules include:

• A slot limit - a minimum legal size of 10cm carapace length and maximum of 12cm carapace length. This is measured from the back of the eye socket to the rear of the carapace.
• A daily bag limit of 2.
• A state-wide possession limit of 4.
• Crayfish must be retained whole or in carcass form.
• Female crayfish that are carrying eggs or young under their tails (in berry) must be returned to the water immediately and unharmed. Eggs must not be removed.
• You can collect Murray crayfish with selected permitted methods which can be viewed via the Victorian Fisheries Authority here.

If you are heading up to the Murray River, remember you will need a NSW Recreational Fishing Licence and only the section between Hume Weir and the Tocumwal road bridge is open during the season. Further information about NSW rules go to the NSW Primary Industries freshwater recreational fishing rules page.

To help ensure you are measuring your catch accurately, the Victorian Fisheries Authority offer free plastic gauges via their regional departments, the customer service centre (136 186) and some fishing tackle stores that sell recreational fishing licenses. These plastic measures are available for Murray spiny freshwater crayfish, as well as abalone and rock lobster.