The blue swimming crab (BSC) can be found throughout the Indo-West Pacific, from tropical to sub-tropical waters (Ng 1998). Fishery Management Units (FMAs), known in Indonesia as “WPPs”, are the assumed units of stock for purposes of assessment and management (Suman et al. 2016). Roughly 87% of landings occur in 4 FMAs: 571 (Malacca Strait and Andaman Sea), 11%, FMA 711 (Karimata Strait, Natuna Sea, and South China Sea), 15%, FMA 713 (Makassar Strait, Bone Bay, Flores Sea, and Bali Sea), 17%, and FMA 712 (Java Sea), 44%, based on average catches from 2005-2014 (KKP-RI 2016). There is also minor harvest (approximately 1.3%) in FMA 714 (Tolo Bay and Banda Sea). Most harvest in FMA 712 occurs where BSC are most abundant: the northern coast of Java, southern coast of Kalimantan, and south-eastern coast of Sumatra.

The most common gear types used in Indonesian BSC fisheries are bottom gill net (Kejer), mini bottom trawl (Arad), and the collapsible trap (Bubu), which is the most selective for BSC, and the most widely used of the 3 (Ernawati et al. 2017; Madduppa et al. 2016).