FOLD-AWAY crab pots have a very wide area for the crabs to enter the pot, with an opening that usually extends the full width of the pot. Unfortunately, this has been the downfall many endangered green and loggerhead turtles, including two just recently at the mouth of the Pimpama River – a very popular crabbing location.

The fold-away style is awesome if you own a tinnie and want to drop four pots but the big round ones can be a real problem. To solve this, all the manufacturers need to do is to put a bar down the middle of the entry to stop the turtles from getting into them. The pot would still be able to be folded if designed right, and I have never seen a muddy that couldn’t fit in a pot half a wide as this style.

1) Crab pots with very wide entrances are the downfall of many turtles. A simple modification to the pot is all that’s needed to solve this problem.