The blue manna crab (also called the blue swimmer or Portunus armatus) is Mandurah's defining export and the centrepiece of summer in the city. The season runs from December through April, and during those months thousands of locals turn out with drop nets and scoop nets at the foreshore, the bridge, and the canal mouths.
Visitors can join in: tackle is cheap to buy or rent at local shops, the daily bag limit and minimum size are signposted, and the technique is easy to pick up — bait a drop net with fish frames, lower it from a jetty, and pull it up after a few minutes. Most locals will gladly explain what they are doing. The crabs are best cooked plain in seawater and eaten with bread, butter, and chilli.