Seafood
Indonesian mud crab
Mud crab, kepiting bakau locally, is caught and farmed in Indonesian mangrove systems and shipped mostly live. Regulation sets minimum sizes and restricts taking berried females, and those rules have been revised, so what may lawfully leave is the first question.
How it leaves the country.
- Live
- The main trade and the highest price. Tied, boxed and flown, with survival as the whole economics.
- Frozen whole
- For buyers without a live route. A different price and a different market.
- Picked meat
- Pasteurised and canned, closer to the blue swimming crab trade in how it is bought.
How it is graded.
Mud crab is contracted on size band, sex and condition. Establish the legal position on sizes and on berried females before agreeing any of it.
- Check the size rules
- Indonesian regulation sets minimum sizes and restricts berried females. The rules have been revised, so confirm the current position for the season you are buying in.
- Condition is the value
- Full crabs and empty crabs at the same weight sell very differently. Condition assessment belongs in the specification and in the inspection.
- What to specify
- Size band written out, sex, condition standard, live or frozen, and the routing for live shipments.
How it is packed.
- Live handling
- Tied, chilled and boxed with damp material. Every hour and every transfer costs survival, so routing is part of the product.
- Mortality
- Agree how mortality on arrival is treated before the first shipment, because it will happen and the argument is worse afterwards.
Where it grows.
East Kalimantan
Borneo
Extensive mangrove systems with both wild catch and pond farming.
South Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Farming and collection feeding the live export routes.
East Java
Java
Pond farming close to the airfreight capacity.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Size and season check
- Confirm that the sizes and condition you want may lawfully be taken and exported in the season you are buying.
- Catch certificate
- For the EU, where the crab is wild-caught rather than farmed.1
- Export health certificate
- Issued by the Indonesian competent authority against the destination's public health requirements.2
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and on the preference scheme in force.
Questions buyers ask.
How is this different from blue swimming crab?
Different animal, different trade. Mud crab moves live at a high price to Asian markets; blue swimming crab is hand-picked, pasteurised and canned mostly for the United States. They share almost nothing operationally.
What decides live shipping economics?
Survival, and survival is decided by holding conditions and routing rather than by the crab. Ask a prospective supplier what their mortality has been into your airport on recent shipments.
Can I buy berried females?
That is regulated, and the rules have changed. Anyone offering them without hesitation is either not checking or not intending to comply, and both are your problem once the shipment is stopped.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. EUR-Lex. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Entering the European market for fresh tuna. CBI, Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Checked 3 August 2026.