When fully mature the species has no natural predators due to its large size, while smaller individuals can be prey of platypus, river blackfish and rakali.

Charles Gould was an amateur naturalist and member of the Royal Society of Tasmania who published observations on the giant freshwater lobster's distribution, diet and habits in 1870.

WB Gould's "Sketchbook of fishes" produced at the Macquarie Harbour penal settlement contains an image of the large western Tasmanian freshwater crayfish A. tricornis not A.

[5] The dispersal and migratory patterns of A. gouldi are largely unknown, but they are recorded to be most active during summer and autumn when water temperatures are higher, they are also known to walk over land.

[4] Juveniles are suspected to migrate to seasonal creeks or shallow faster-flowing waters known as riffle zones where they are at less risk from predators including other crayfish, fish, platypus and rakali.

Large declines in numbers or localised extinctions are thought to have occurred in the Welcome, Montagu, Rubicon, Don, Brid, Boobyalla, Pipers, Ringarooma, Duck, Little and Great Forester Rivers and Claytons Rivulet.

[15][16][18] Juveniles prefer shallow, faster-flowing stream habitats with distinct cavities to hide under and higher portions of bolder substrate and moss cover.

[4][5] Fishing for the giant freshwater crayfish was never a commercial proposition, and its slow growth and aggressive nature suggest that the species is not suitable for aquaculture.

[17] As an edible animal, they are further disadvantaged of being so spiny that they can cut hands if carelessly shelled after cooking, and they yield little meat relative to total weight.

[17] The principal causes for the population declines of the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish have been previous overfishing, continued illegal fishing and habitat disturbance by agriculture, forestry and urban activities.

The larger individuals were targeted for eating and trophies, which has had a significant effect on breeding stock, completely removing populations from some river systems.

[2][4] In 1998, the species was listed as "vulnerable" under Australian law and an amendment to the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 made it illegal to catch or handle A. gouldi without a permit, carrying a maximum fine of A$10,000.

[4][13][16] New developments of fire roads and double track trails can consequentially allow illegal fishers to access previously unexploited populations.

Increased sediment levels arising from agricultural and forestry related land-uses have been correlated with decreased abundances of freshwater crayfish.

Sediment depositions arising from upstream forestry operations have been observed to impact in-stream habitat for considerable distances downstream of up to 10 km.

Anecdotal reports indicate that low environmental flows caused the death of giant freshwater crayfish in several catchments in the north-west and north-east of Tasmania in 2006–07[4][18] In 1994, a large spill from a holding dam at a pyrethrum extraction plant caused a major kill in the Hogarth Rivulet and the main channel of the Great Forester River.

Reports from locals and fisheries officers suggested that there was little life left in much of the main channel, and the incident is believed to have severely harmed any populations that were in the waterways at the time of the spill.

[5] This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.