The Crab From Eight Hundred Metres Down

Crystal crab appears among the live seafood at Spice Temple when the week’s supply allows. Its pale shell and firm, sweet meat make it distinctive, but the more remarkable story begins hundreds of metres below the surface off Western Australia.

A crab found nowhere else

The crystal crab is found only in waters off Western Australia.

It is also remarkably long-lived. Crystal crabs can live for 25 to 30 years, while females reach maturity at a carapace length of around 90 millimetres.

Because crystal crabs grow slowly and live for decades, fisheries managers limit the catch to what the population can replace.

How the catch is controlled

The West Coast Deep Sea Crustacean Managed Fishery operates under a total allowable catch, with a limited number of licences and quotas controlling how much each operator may land.

In 2024, the reported crystal crab catch was 122.1 tonnes. Egg-bearing females and crabs below the legal size must be returned to the water, while spatial closures and restrictions on other retained species further limit the fishery’s impact.

The west coast fishery has held Marine Stewardship Council certification since July 2016. That assessment considers the health of the stock, the effect of the fishery on the wider environment and the way it is managed.

Two names, two different crabs

Crystal crab is commonly sold in Australia as snow crab, although it is not the same animal as the snow crab caught across the northern Atlantic and Pacific.

The Australian species is pale-shelled, deep-water and local to Western Australia. Its meat comes away in large white pieces, with a firmer texture than spanner crab and a pronounced natural sweetness.

Those qualities also allow it to hold its shape through cooking and stand up to the stronger flavours of a wok preparation.

From Western Australia to Bligh Street

Spice Temple’s crystal crab comes through seafood supplier Astakos, sourced at Sydney Fish Market and delivered to the restaurant live.

It is cooked to order with a choice of five preparations: Four Chillies; Salted Olive and Black Bean; Black Bean and Salted Chilli; XO Sauce; or Ginger and Shallot.

Each takes the crab in a different direction, from chilli heat and fermented depth to the cleaner fragrance of ginger and shallot. The firm meat carries those flavours while retaining the sweetness that makes crystal crab so sought after.

Availability depends on the week’s supply. Ask what is live when you reserve your table at Spice Temple via link above.

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