The species is known to have been caught since the settlement of Swan River Colony, in 1829, and expanded as the larger populations were discovered in remote locations of the state. The industry came to be centred at the Houtman Abrolhos, at the edge of the continental shelf, where the mature crays occur in large populations. A cannery was established at the islands to export the seasonal catch in the 1930s. The early industry claimed to harvest up to fourteen species, however, research into the Abrolhos populations recognised only three.