These vessels are licensed to fish professionally for rock lobster using traps (called pots). The number of fishing units on the Managed Fishery Licence (MFL) determines the quantity of pots each licensee can use on their vessels. The season operates from November to June each year, with the Abrolhos Islands season operating from March to June. Management of the fishery began in 1963 and it has one of the longest running management plans of any fishery in Australia.

The data collected over this time provides a detailed history of the fishery and enables fisheries scientists to predict catches four years in advance. This information allows industry and government to work together to introduce management controls to ensure the sustainability of the fishery, which has included a 28% reduction in the number of pots used in the fishery since 1987. Controls focus on protecting breeding stock and include seasonal closures, minimum size requirements and a total ban on catching breeding females.

Production in the fishery is strongly dependent on the Leeuwin Current which flows southwards along the WA coast. In years when the current is stronger, more lobster larvae settle in the coastal regions leading to greater production in the fishery 4 years later. In years of weaker currents (usually related to El Niño events), production in the fishery four years later is lower, thus producing a cyclical pattern in long term catches.