Early last week, we were alerted to an application for a Federal Government licence for the capture and export of up to 5,000 wild hermit crabs per month for 3 years from WA's northern coastal ecosystems for the international pet trade. If successful, tens of thousands of wild hermit crabs would face drastically shortened lives along with needless suffering, and the stability of our native ecosystems would be jeopardised.

With only a week before the consultation deadline, our team worked tirelessly to research the issue and voice our numerous grave concerns to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) through a comprehensive 16-page submission, available for download here.

Here's a quick summary:

• Hermit crabs have complex needs, which are difficult to meet in captivity — while their wild counterparts typically live for three decades (sometimes even longer), captive individuals often survive just months. The proposal lacks adequate welfare assurances for collection, storage and transport, and the available literature on invertebrate sentience indicates the associated risk of pain, suffering and physiological harm is significant.
  
  
• The proposal lacks scientific grounding, relying almost entirely on anecdotal and unverifiable claims by the applicant, and providing no substantive risk assessment informed by credible, independent research regarding the long-term ecological impacts of the operation. Our own review of the available literature revealed major red flags concerning sustainability.
  
  
• It appears no consultation has been undertaken with the traditional owners of the relevant regions, to whom hermit crabs and their shells are culturally and spiritually significant. Approval of the licence without appropriate First Nations input would undermine Australia's commitment to indigenous reconciliation.
  
  
• The proposal is fraught with transparency and accountability issues, outlining no protocols for independent monitoring and adaptive management, leaving the door wide open to irreparable environmental damage with no opportunity for early warning and intervention. In a society increasingly concerned with climate change and the protection of our natural ecosystems, this is simply unacceptable.
  
  

In addition to lodging our own submission, we also issued a callout to AJPWA members and supporters via email and social media. While we don't yet know how many submissions were made as a result, we're aware of at least 19, and expect the actual figure to be much higher.

With such strong public support, together with submissions from other organisations like Animals Australia, we're hopeful the DCCEEW will see fit to reject the application. The situation is being monitored closely, and we'll provide updates as they become available.