The Murray spiny crayfish grows to 3kg and lives in the clear cold rivers of the Victorian highlands. Freediving for them is one of the strangest and most rewarding activities the Australian bush offers.
The Animal
The Murray spiny crayfish (Euastacus armatus) is the largest freshwater crustacean in Australia and one of the largest in the world. It inhabits clear, cold, fast rivers in the Victorian and NSW highlands, typically in water between 10 and 18 degrees, hiding under boulders and in bedrock crevices. It is ancient, slow-growing — a large animal may be 30 years old — and increasingly threatened by warming water temperatures and habitat degradation.
Recreational harvest is legal in Victoria with a fishing licence and a daily bag limit of five. Trapping is not permitted — the legal method is hand-collection by diving. This is not coincidental. It limits harvest to physically capable divers willing to enter cold water and search for individual animals, which is the most sustainable harvest method possible for a long-lived species.
The Dive
You enter a highland river in a wetsuit — 3mm minimum, 5mm if you plan to spend more than 20 minutes in the water. The visibility in these rivers on a clear autumn day is extraordinary: 5-10 metres in the right conditions, looking upstream through turquoise water at boulders the size of small cars.
You find the crayfish by searching under boulders systematically. They will often retreat from light and movement, pressing deeper into crevices. The challenge is reaching in far enough to grip them securely — spiny crayfish have defensive rostral spines that draw blood casually. Heavy gloves are wise.
The Table
Murray spiny crayfish is exceptional eating — richer and sweeter than most marine crayfish, closer in character to European crayfish than to southern rock lobster. Halved and grilled over coals with butter and tarragon, it needs nothing else. Browse our fishing and outdoor accessories.
