The level, types, and influences of use of intertidal and subtidal mol
luscs and crustaceans were examined on four islands of the Quirimba Ar
chipelago in northern Mozambique. Artisanal collecting was restricted
to spring low tidal periods and involved at least 5% of the population
of the study islands. Twenty-two mollusc species and five decapod cru
stascean species (Palinuridae and Portunidae) were collected, of which
the large gastropods Chicoreus ramosus (Muricidae) and Fasciola trape
zium (fasciolaridae), were the most important on coral reef rubble sho
re regions. The bivalves Pinctada nigra and Barbatia fusca were the mo
st important species in seagrass (Halhodule sp, and Cymodocea sp.) are
as. The diversity and identity of target species and proportions of sp
ecies taken by intertidal collectors differed between study islands. T
he mean length of the gastropods C. ramosus and F. trapezium collected
on the larger islands of Quirimba and Quisiva have significantly decr
eased on the basis of examinations of previously collected middens. Th
ose collected at Quirimba and Quisiva Islands were also smaller than c
urrent collections at the nearby smaller islands of Quilaluia and Senc
ar.