Proportion and Total of Commodities Blue Swimming Crab (Portunus pelagicus Linnaeus, 1758) Catches in Gebang Mekar Village, Cirebon Regency, West Java Using Crab Gillnet and Collapsible Crab Trap

Abstract

Blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus) is one of the high economic value commodities which causes increased efforts to catch blue swimming crab in Indonesia. The effort of catching continues to increase the blue swimming crab resources in the nature that has decreased. Cirebon Regency is one of the largest blue swimming crab fishing centers in West Java with a total value of blue swimming crab production in 2017 by 7,347 tons/year. This research was conducted to determine the selecitivity level of the crab gillnet and collapsible crab trap based on the proportion and total of catches obtained in Gebang Mekar Village, Cirebon Regency. Research was conducted in September 2019 – October 2019 in Gebang Mekar Village. For this research we used are primary data; collected directly during the observations includes catch type and weight of the catches and then interviews with several crab gillnet and collapsible crab trap fisherman and secondary data; data from official agencies and some literature. Our research suppose the moonlight phase effect of the blue swimming crab catch. Based on the research, it can be concluded that the crab gillnet with 3.5 inch mesh size and collapsible crab trap that operated in Gebang Mekar Village may be called a selective fishing gears but crab gillnet is more  eficient as compared to collapsible crab.