Harbour walls, drop nets, pots and peelers
Crabbing
Crabbing off a quay is the easiest fishing there is, and a great first outing for children. Keeping edible crabs and lobsters is a different matter: the rules change a lot from one regulator to the next, and on the north-east coast you need a permit for even one crab. Here is family crabbing, drop nets and pots for the table, peelers for bait, the rules by regulator, and how to kill and cook a crab properly.
In short
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Family crabbing
Shore crabs need no licence and have no size limit anywhere in Great Britain. A crab line with a bait bag (no hook) or a small drop net, a bucket of seawater and a scoop net is all it takes. Bait with fish offcuts or bacon, and fish the hours either side of high water from a quay that keeps some depth at low tide.
1hr
Welfare first
Keep the bucket shaded, change the water, hold few crabs and not for long, and let them go gently at the water's edge, never tipped off the quay. In law, crabs are sentient (Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022).
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Crabs for the table
NE IFCA needs a permit even for one crab from the shore. North Wales allows 5 crabs a day and needs a permit for up to 5 pots. Cornwall allows 5 shellfish a day from a boat, with no number limit from the shore. Scotland allows 1 lobster and 5 crabs a day per unlicensed boat. NW IFCA and Devon and Severn IFCA need a recreational potting permit.
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Always back
Berried (egg-carrying) hens and V-notched lobsters always go back. Several regulators protect berried edible crabs too. Edible crab minimum sizes run from 115mm (Eastern IFCA) to 160mm for a cock crab (Cornwall, Devon and Severn).
Killing a crab
Chill it, then spike it or split it straight away. Don't boil it alive. Defra's December 2025 welfare strategy promises guidance saying live boiling is not acceptable, but we found no sign of it being published by 18 October 2026.
Kit
Family
Off the quay
- A crab line on a winder, with a mesh bait bag and a small weight. No hook.
- Or a small drop net with 5m or more of cord, wrapped round a short piece of pipe so it doesn't tangle.
- Two buckets (crabs apart from prawns and fish), a cloth for shade, and a small bucket on a rope for fetching seawater.
- A scoop net to catch crabs that let go.
- Bait: fish offcuts, mackerel or bacon.
- Gloves, wipes, and a bag for litter and old line.
For the table
Nets and pots
- A hoop net or heavier drop net with a bait bag. The drop net you carry for pier fishing will do.
- Pots (parlour or top-entry) with escape gaps where required: 80 x 46mm in NE IFCA, 80 x 45 x 100mm in NW IFCA. Plus regulator tags, rope and a dan buoy.
- A crab and lobster gauge set to your regulator's sizes.
- A cool box with wet seaweed (never fresh water).
- A spike, a heavy knife and a big pan.
Bait collecting
Peelers
- A bucket with damp weed.
- Gloves.
- A head torch for night tides.
The crab line, and how to measure
Family harbour crabbing
Pick the spot
Look for signs, or ask the harbourmaster. Private and working quays may ban crabbing. Pick railed or low walls away from moorings, ladders and boat traffic.
Time the tide
Fish roughly two hours either side of high water. Some corners get too shallow at low tide, while deeper berths keep fishing.
Bait lightly
One or two rashers or a fish offcut. Go easy at first, because loose bait clouds the water.
Lower and lift
Lower the line to the bottom. When it tugs, lift slowly and steadily, and swing it over the bucket with the scoop net underneath. Leave a drop net a few minutes, then lift it smoothly and quickly.
Look after the bucket
Seawater only, with a few stones and some weed. Keep few crabs (the Gone Crabbing film says 10 at most) and keep big ones apart from small ones. Keep it shaded, and change the water often in warm weather.
Not too long
Release crabs within about an hour, and sooner when it's hot.
Let them go gently
Take them to a slipway, steps or the beach and let them go at the water's edge. Never drop or pour them from the quay, and don't put them on dry ground to "race".
Clear up
Take line, packets and broken nets home.
Children on the quay
- An adult stays between the children and the edge.
- Children kneel or sit rather than lean over, and wear a buoyancy aid on low or unrailed walls.
- Watch for weed on steps and the rising tide on slipways.
- Wash hands after handling bait.
- Hold crabs across the back of the shell, behind the claws.
In an emergency at the coast, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard.
Drop nets and hoop nets: edible, velvet and spider crab
- Fish piers, breakwaters and rock ledges, in deeper water beside rough ground, kelp edges or piles. Tie oily fish or fish frames in a bait bag in the middle of the net.
- Leave the net 10 to 20 minutes, then lift fast and steadily. This is general practice, not checked against a source.
- Crabs are more active at night.
- Measure each crab on the spot. Lower undersized, berried or soft crabs back in the net; don't drop them.
Check your regulator first
- NE IFCA needs its permit and tags on any net used for crabs.
- Cornwall IFCA bans nets for sea fish in its rivers and estuaries.
- Devon and Severn IFCA needs a permit for any net at sea.
- In Cornwall and Devon and Severn, hand-worked nets up to 4 square metres are exempt.
Recreational pots
- Get the permit and tags first where they're needed, and mark the gear as required.
- For hand hauling, fish 30 to 50ft of water with 9 to 10mm rope and four or five pots per string, about 40ft apart. Hang each pot on a swivel bridle, and give the buoy rope two to three times the depth.
- From the rocks, a parlour pot keeps catch that folding pots let out. Carry the weight separately and wire it on at the mark.
- Haul every day or two, and clear kelp out of the entrances when you reset.
- No keep pots at sea in North Wales or NW IFCA waters. Land the catch the same day in North Wales, and within 24 hours in NW IFCA waters.
Rock pools and peelers for bait
Peeler crab is one of the baits in the bait calendar, with how to prepare it in Bait tips.
- Go at low water on big tides; night tides are often better.
- Lift loose rocks sitting on sand or shingle, not rocks sunk in mud. Put every rock back weed side up, or the weed rots and the spot is ruined.
- To test for a peeler, snap off only the last segment of one leg. Soft new skin underneath means it's a peeler. Never pull off whole legs.
- A male clasping a crab underneath is usually guarding a female about to peel.
- Return berried females and small edibles. Take only what one session needs, and freeze any spares.
Local bans
- No taking shore crabs in the Exe north of Starcross Yacht Club to Parsonage Stile, or in a marked area off Dawlish Warren (Devon and Severn IFCA).
- No hand gathering or crab tiling on an eelgrass area of Eastern IFCA's part of the Humber (Regulatory Notice 4).
- Sussex's Hand Gathering Byelaw 2021 sets bag limits for listed species. Whether shore crab is on the list is unconfirmed: check locally.
The crabs (and lobsters) you'll meet
Minimum sizes vary by regulator: the full detail is in the rules table below.
| Species | Minimum size | Where | When | Bait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shore crab Carcinus maenas | None. In Scotland it counts in the 5-crab boat limit | Harbour walls, estuaries, rock pools | All year, best May to October. Peelers mainly spring and early summer | Bacon, fish offcuts |
| Edible (brown) crab Cancer pagurus | 115mm (Eastern IFCA) up to 140–150mm hen and 160mm cock (Cornwall, Devon and Severn) | Rough ground, kelp edges, piles, harbour mouths | Late spring to autumn | Oily fish, fish frames |
| Velvet crab Necora puber | 65mm (GB landing order) | Rocky shores, under boulders | Summer, autumn | Fish |
| Spider crab Maja | 130mm (Cornwall); 130mm male, 120mm female (North Wales). Others unconfirmed | Mainly south and west | Summer | Fish |
| Lobster Homarus gammarus | 87mm carapace (Eastern, NW IFCA, North Wales); 88mm (NE IFCA); 90mm (Cornwall, Scilly, Devon and Severn, South Wales). Defra is raising the national size to 90mm by 2029 | Rock, boulders, walls, breakwaters | Summer, autumn | Oily fish |
| Crawfish Palinurus | 110mm (Cornwall, Scilly, South Wales); 95mm (NW IFCA) | South-west rock | Summer | Fish |
Soft, just-moulted crabs are watery and easily injured, so put them back. That's good practice only: we found no rule on soft crabs for recreational fishers.
Rules by regulator
Crab and lobster rules for recreational fishers
Last checked 18 October 2026Each regulator links to its own page. Where a cell says unconfirmed, we couldn't read the regulator's page: check locally before you keep anything.
| Regulator | Permit | Limits | Sizes | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE IFCA Humber to Tyne | Recreational Shellfish Permit to take edible or velvet crab, lobster or whelk, from the shore, a boat or diving. Tags on pots and nets | 2 lobsters, 10 crabs, 30 whelks a day; the same allowance per boat however many holders are aboard. Up to 100m of net | Lobster 88mm, edible 140mm, velvet 65mm | Escape gaps 80 x 46mm. No berried lobster or edible crab; V-notched lobsters go back. No-take zone at Flamborough (Sewerby Steps to Danes Dyke, 700m out) |
| Northumberland IFCA | Unconfirmed (site unreachable) | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Check locally |
| NW IFCA Cumbria to Cheshire | Category Two potting permit (Byelaw 4) for shore or boat, £20 a year, tags issued | Without pots: 1 lobster, 5 crabs (edible, spider and velvet combined), 50 whelks a day. Category Two pot number unconfirmed | Lobster 87mm, edible 130mm, crawfish 95mm | Escape gap 80 x 45 x 100mm. No V-notched, mutilated or berried lobster, and no berried edible crab. No keep pots; land within 24 hours |
| Eastern IFCA Lincolnshire to the Essex border | None found (unconfirmed) | None found | Edible 115mm, lobster 87mm, velvet 65mm | Sizes apply to anyone without a commercial licence |
| Kent and Essex IFCA | Unconfirmed (site down) | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Check locally |
| Sussex IFCA | Shellfish Permit Byelaw 2015 covers lobster, crab, whelk, cuttlefish and prawn; a recreational permit exists, with tags and catch returns | Unconfirmed (PDF blocked) | The 2021 size byelaw applies to anglers. Figures unconfirmed | Hand gathering bag limits |
| Southern IFCA Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight | None listed for recreational potting | None listed | Size byelaw applies to all. Crab and lobster figures unconfirmed | No one may remove a berried lobster |
| Devon and Severn IFCA | Category 2 (recreational) potting permit, £20. Potting, netting and diving for crab and lobster all need a permit | In the permit conditions (not read) | Lobster 90mm, hen crab 140mm, cock crab 160mm | No V-notched lobsters. Exe and Dawlish peeler ban |
| Cornwall IFCA | Recreational boats can't get a shellfish permit | Boat: 5 a day of lobster, crawfish, edible and spider crab, no more than 2 of them lobster or crawfish. Shore (pots or by hand): no number limit | Lobster 90mm, crawfish 110mm, edible hen 150mm, cock 160mm, spider 130mm | Berried and V-notched lobsters go back. Sizes don't apply in some estuaries |
| Isles of Scilly IFCA | Permit, and a £3 tag on each pot | Max 6 pots | Lobster 90mm, crawfish 110mm | |
| North Wales Cemaes Head to the Dee | Welsh Government permit to use pots or traps | Max 5 pots. A day: 2 lobsters, 1 crawfish, 5 crabs combined, 1kg prawns, 5kg whelks. Land the same day; no keep pots | Lobster 87mm, edible 130mm, spider 130mm male / 120mm female, velvet 65mm | Gear marked with the permit number. V-notched lobsters go back. Saved byelaws 29 to 31 |
| South Wales | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Lobster 90mm, edible 140mm, crawfish 110mm | V-notched lobsters go back |
| Scotland | No licence for leisure boats, but limits apply. Shetland: own use needs no licence, but Shetland Shellfish Management Organisation rules bind everyone | Per unlicensed boat per day: 1 lobster, 5 crabs (edible, green, spider, velvet), 10 Norway lobster, 6 scallops. No shore limit found | Velvet 65mm. Edible crab and lobster sizes unconfirmed | SSI 2017/57, SSI 2012/348 |
National rules. The Undersized Velvet Crabs Order 1989 sets 65mm for velvets landed in Great Britain. The Lobsters and Crawfish Order 2000, as amended for England in 2017, stops fishing boats taking or landing V-notched, mutilated or berried lobsters and crawfish. Scotland's 1999 order covers V-notched and mutilated lobsters and crawfish.
Rules change, usually each spring. Where a rule says unconfirmed or check locally, ask the regulator or harbour office before you fish.
Fish sizes and other sea angling rules are on the Rules page and each region page.
Welfare and humane killing
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, section 5, includes "any decapod crustacean". In 2021 Defra said this would not directly change fishing or kitchen practice. Its December 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy commits to guidance on which killing methods are lawful for decapods, including making clear that live boiling is not acceptable. A gov.uk search on 18 October 2026 found no published guidance yet.
Keep it cool and damp
Kill it the same day.
Chill it
So it goes calm: in the fridge or briefly in the freezer. Chilling only slows it down; it doesn't stop it feeling pain.
Spike it straight away
Lift the tail flap, drive a spike into the hole underneath, then push it in through the mouth. For a lobster, split it firmly down the centre line through the head. An electrical stunner is the most humane method where one is available.
Don't
- Boil crabs alive.
- Drown them in fresh water.
- Pull legs off live crabs.
- Leave dead crab lying around before cooking: it spoils fast.
We couldn't reach RSPCA or charity pages, so this method rests on Defra's strategy and experienced crabbers' practice.
Cooking
Brown crab
Cook it at once in water as salty as the sea, about 10 minutes for a medium brown crab and longer for big ones. Let it drain and cool naturally.
Picking
Remove the gills ("dead man's fingers"). Keep the shells for stock.
Velvets
Velvets die quickly out of water, so cook them soon after killing. Grilling cleaned velvets works too.
More on keeping your catch at its best in From sea to plate.
Family crabbing spots
Evidence: W = Wikipedia mentions crabbing there; V = crabbing videos filmed there (titles found 18 October 2026); B = suggested to us, not yet checked. We couldn't reach any harbour or council page, so check signs and local rules on the day.
| Spot | Region | Why | Caveat and evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walberswick | Suffolk | Home of the British Open Crabbing Championship | The championship was last held in August 2010 (W). Many family videos (V) |
| Blakeney Quay | North Norfolk | Wikipedia lists crabbing among the village's activities | W, V |
| Wells-next-the-Sea | North Norfolk | Several videos | V, B |
| Cromer Pier | North Norfolk | Drop netting off the pier | V |
| Mudeford Quay | Dorset | Several videos, including one of a crab release | V, B |
| Weymouth Harbour | Dorset | A local crabbing group (Weymouth Crabbers) and a very good guide video | V. Mind other harbour users when you cast nets |
| Lyme Regis | Dorset | A local crabbing tutorial video | V |
| Dartmouth | South Devon | Family drop-net crabbing | V. The video ends with 27 crabs in one bucket: don't copy that |
| Salcombe | South Devon | Crabbing competition at the regatta (W); a crab festival channel | W, V |
| Brixham | South Devon | Family video | V, B |
| Whitby | North Yorkshire | Many family videos | V, B |
| Conwy quay | North Wales | Several videos | V, B |
| Tenby | Pembrokeshire | Suggested to us | B. Only a very short clip found |
Crabbing videos (V) but nothing further checked: Torquay, Padstow, Littlehampton, Pagham Harbour spit, Scarborough, Staithes beck and Bridlington in England, and Rhos-on-Sea and Aberaeron in Wales. We found no documented family spot in Scotland. We couldn't verify any current harbour ban; the Gone Crabbing film tells crabbers to obey signs and the harbourmaster.
Tips from crabbers and potters
Paraphrased in our own words and credited. Rules always come from the regulator, not a video.
On the quay
Check for a sign allowing crabbing, or ask the harbourmaster. Private quays may ban it because of fishermen.
Use a bait bag on the line, never a hook.
Fill the bucket with seawater, not tap water, and add stones and seaweed.
Keep no more than about 10 crabs in a bucket, cover them with water, and don't keep them long.
Release from a slipway near the water, not off the quay.
Fish offcuts outfish bacon, but bacon is a cheap backup.
Use a drop net from walls and piers, and save crab lines for rock pools.
Wind drop-net cord round a short length of pipe or rail to stop tangles.
Fetch water with a small bucket on a line, and keep crabs and fish in separate buckets.
Crab either side of high tide. Some areas go too shallow at low water.
Match the number of crabs to the bucket, change the water often, and shade or cover the bucket when it's hot.
Don't tip crabs on the ground to race. Put them straight back in the water.
Give gear you don't need to other crabbers, and take all litter home.
Start with only a little bacon, because too much clouds the water. Nets with two bait pouches work well.
Peelers and rock pools
Put rocks back weed side up, or the weed rots and the spot dies.
Skip rocks sunk in mud. Crabs shelter under rocks lying on the surface.
Test for a peeler by snapping just a leg tip, not a whole leg. Soft skin underneath means it's a peeler.
A male carrying a crab underneath is guarding a female that's about to peel.
Check IFCA rules, don't strip one area, and put berried females straight back.
Wear gloves and lift crabs from behind. Crabs are more active at night.
Pots
For hand hauling, set pots in 30 to 50ft of water, with four or five per string at most.
Make the buoy rope two to three times the depth, and use rope of 9mm or more so it doesn't cut your hands.
Put a swivel bridle on each pot, and coil each pot's rope on top of it before shooting.
Learn your hand spans as rough size guides, then gauge anything close.
Free a crab from the mesh by its claws, not its body, and clear kelp from pot entrances.
Folding pots let big crabs escape, and a parlour pot caught keepers. Carry the pot's weight separately.
Keep catch in wet seaweed. If a crab is clamped on, give it a minute to relax rather than pulling.
Kitchen
Chill the crab, then spike it under the tail flap and through the mouth.
Boil in water as salty as the sea, let the crab drain and cool naturally, and keep the shells for stock.
Velvets die fast out of water. Cook them soon after killing; grilling cleaned velvets works too.
Still to check
- Northumberland IFCA permit, tags and sizes, and Kent and Essex IFCA potting rules and sizes.
- Sussex recreational permit limits, and whether shore crab is on the hand-gathering list.
- Southern IFCA crab and lobster minimum sizes.
- The NW IFCA Category Two pot limit, and Devon and Severn's permit conditions.
- Whether South Wales needs a pot permit or daily limit, as North Wales does.
- Scottish edible crab and lobster sizes for shore and leisure-boat fishers.
- Whether Defra has published its decapod killing guidance.
Know the answer? Please tell us.