Wells-next-the-Sea and Cromer in Norfolk (England) both rely upon their local
crab populations, since crabbing (gillying) is a major part of their tourist
industry. Compared to a control site with no crabbing, crabs from Wells harbour
and Cromer pier were found to have nearly six times the amount of limb damage.
Crabs caught by the general public had more injuries than crabs caught in
controlled conditions, suggesting the buckets in which the crabs were kept were
to blame. Since there is much evidence that such injuries have negative impacts
on the survival and reproductive success of the shore crab, this is taken as
evidence of non-lethal injury from humans having a population-level effect on
these animals. Questionnaire data demonstrated a public lack of awareness and
want for information, which was then used to obtain funding to produce a
leaflet campaign informing the public of how to crab responsibly. All data
collected is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.979288
