RULES and REGULATIONS

REGISTRATION

Each team and crew member must be registered for the competition.
Registration costs $20 per person (not $20 per crew) and includes lunch (crabs only).
Registrations and payments must be received by or on the Saturday day of the event.
Each person/team registered and fully paid receives a meal of crabs at the Crab Fest lunch.
Crabs presented by persons or teams that are not registered will not be accepted.

Boat crews competing can launch from 5:00 or 6:00am at any location.
A common launch at 6:30–7:00am at the North Haven Boat Ramp or West Beach Boat Ramp is ideal.
Jetty fishers and rakers can begin fishing from 6:00am from their chosen location (they do not need to be at the boat ramp).
The fishing competition duration is open from 6:00am to 11:30am only, Saturday of the competition.

All competitors must be back at the Croatian Sports Centre, Gepps Cross for ‘weigh in’ between 11:30am and 12:30pm Saturday day of the competition.
‘Weigh in’ deadline/cut off time is 1:00pm - LATEST! We prefer by 12:30pm.
Any crabs presented after 1:00pm may not be included in the competition.

The Croatian Sports Centre has kitchen and crab cleaning staff BUT due to volume of crabs coming in at the same time and urgency to prepare, cook and serve the crabs for lunch (and not dinner) some help is always required.
If each crew can spend just 5-10 minutes helping to clean their catch at ‘weigh in’ - this is a huge help in keeping up with cooking demand.
DO NOT clean and cut up your biggest crab! This should be tagged and stored separately in the fridge by the measuring judge.

Biggest crab must be selected and presented by the Captain or crew member of each team.
Crabs will be measured from claw tip to claw tip by judging staff.
The crab that measures the greatest distance from claw tip to claw tip when spread apart horizontally will be the winner (weight of crab or shell size will not count).
Crabs with broken claws will not be accepted - it must be whole. ***JUDGE’S MEASUREMENT IS FINAL***

Each team will be eligible for a Mystery Prize.
Only one ticket per team will be allocated for the Mystery Prize.
All nominations will be placed into a barrel by the organisers and the ticket that is drawn out will be the winner.
The Mystery Prize does not need to be the biggest crab in the catch.
This way all competitors (jetty, boat or rake) have an equal chance of winning a great Mystery Prize.
Any crabs presented must be at least the minimum legal size of 11cm.

Each crew can submit crabs for the ‘Most Crabs’ prize.
Individuals are limited to a maximum of 20 crabs - as per fishing regulations.
Teams are limited to a maximum of 60 crabs - jetty, rakers or boat fishermen. A team of 2 can only submit 40.
Only crabs that are presented for the competition will be counted (any crabs kept for personal use will NOT be included in the total number of crabs caught).
If two or more teams catch exactly the same number of crabs, then the winner will be the team/competitor with the biggest crab.
All crabs presented must be at least the minimum legal size of 11cm.

All crabs presented for the competition will go towards the lunch at the Croatian Sports Centre.
Any proceeds from the ‘Crab Fest’ event go to the Croatian Sports Centre SA Inc.

ALL fishing regulations apply - minimum size limits - bag limits - female crabs with eggs, net limits. Please familiarise yourself with the regulations by visiting:
https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/recreational_fishing/rules/species_limits/species_profile/blue_crabs/