Notice

Have Your Say On Proposed Brown Crab Conservation Measures in the South West

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), on behalf of Defra, has launched a new online survey inviting stakeholders to share their views on proposed changes to brown crab management in the South West.

Applies to England

Documents

South West Brown Crab MCRS Consultation Overview Document

Details

This follows strong support from the South West Crab Trial Group for harmonising the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS) for brown crab. The proposed MCRS would be set at 160 millimetres (mm) for males and 150 mm for females.

With stakeholder support, and anticipated long-term benefits to crab stocks, the government intends to implement the proposed MCRS increase as a permanent measure, rather than a trial. This is subject to further stakeholder input.

The survey is now closed

MMO opted for a short, mobile-friendly online survey to make it easier for stakeholders to participate and share their views. The survey was open until 23:59 on 17 August 2025.

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped share the survey within their networks.

MMO will publish the results shortly.

Updates to this page

Published 31 July 2025
Last updated 28 August 2025 show all updates
  1. Update: Closure of survey

  2. First published.

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