Yabby Frequently Asked Questions - Getting Started
What is the easiest way to get started, selling my yabbies?
You can let a licensed commercial harvestor trap your dams; the harvestor will pay you for each kilogram of your yabbies, according to their size and condition. You don't need a licence, if you sell your yabbies in this way, to a licensed harvestor.
What if I want to do my own trapping, do I need a licence?
If you sell the yabbies that you've trapped to a licensed Yabby farmer you don't need a licence (usually you deliver the yabbies to a processor's purging/packing shed or collection depot).
If you want to sell your yabbies directly to a retail fish shop or restaurant, you'll need to get a licence from the Department of Fisheries. This type of farmer must have a shed, with holding tanks, to purge and pack a high quality, graded, live product for delivery to the retail outlet.
How do I find out who are the licenced Yabby harvestors and farmers in my area or apply for a Yabby licence?
Contact your nearest Aquaculture Policy Officer or the Head Office of the Department of Fisheries for a list and a licence application form.
I have koonacs/gilgies in my wheatbelt tank dams; what about them?
You've almost certainly got yabbies; people have been wrongly using the common names of "koonacs" (and "gilgies") for the introduced yabbies. Koonacs and gilgies are quite different freshwater crayfish species, which are native to WA. You can view an online comparison to help you identifying the freshwater crayfish in WA, with coloured photos and descriptions of marron, koonacs, gilgies and yabbies.
Why is there a boundary to licencing, stopping Yabby farming in the higher rainfall areas?
Yabbies are not a native WA species; they were introduced from western Victoria in 1932 to the Narembeen area and, then, spread widely. The boundary to Yabby farming (formerly Albany Highway and now nearer the state forests) is intended to separate it from habitats of the native marron, koonacs and gilgies, which occur mainly in natural waters in the wetter forested part of the southwest. Yabby harvesting is best suited to the muddy tank dams of the inland agricultural region, where most of the large number of existing dams are still not harvested. For more information read Fisheries Research Report No. 92, 1992 ( "Spread of the introduced Yabby Cherax albidus Clark, 1936 in Western Australia" by N. M. Morrissy and G. Cassells).
Why do we need any licensing in the Yabby industry?
the Department of Fisheries uses the compulsory, confidential returns from all licensees, showing the amounts of yabbies they sell, to calculate the annual production of the industry. This statistic influences the amount of research, health and other services provided by the government to support the industry. The licensing also allows the Department of Fisheries' enforcement officers to ensure that all yabbies pass through a quality control step, the purging-packing shed. One of the major reasons for the success and growth of the Yabby industry is the marketing of a high quality product.
Why can't I use tanks or build ponds to grow yabbies?
Basically, because these more "intensive" methods of crayfish farming are unproven for yabbies (despite many attempts) and are much more difficult than harvesting farm dams. These methods also need a lot of capital investment. If you have a farm with Yabby dams, to get started only a small amount of money needs to be spent on some traps and you can even make these yourself. More explanation on different levels of crayfish farming is given in the Department of Fisheries' publication "An introduction to marron and other crayfish farming in WA". The message is, "make the most of the yabbies in your farm dams".
Do I need to build a hatchery to keep my dams stocked?
No. Yabbies breed so well that the problem tends to be too many juveniles in dams, even when the stock is harvested frequently. In the unlikely event that your farm dams have never been stocked with yabbies, it's not difficult to find other licensed farmers or harvestors who will sell you some bags of spare juveniles from their dams.
Is it difficult to get into the Yabby export business?
Yes, an exporter needs to be a marketing entrepreneur with a wide, up to date knowledge of world seafood and freshwater crayfish supply and demand. Immense advantages are personally knowing people overseas who are seafood agents and in the restaurant trade in Europe and Asia and being able to speak a foreign language(s). (Unfortunately, the world is not beating a path to WA to buy our yabbies!) An exporter needs to invest considerable capital in building a purging and packing shed which conforms to the strict Commonwealth standards that are intended to ensure the quality of exported Australian food products. To export successfully, many sources of yabbies are needed to be able to reliably ship out hundreds of kilos each week.
You can support the WA Yabby export drive by supplying your yabbies to a successful exporter. Or you can develop personal contacts with some local restaurants and learn about direct marketing.
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