To effectively restore swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) resources in the Dongtou sea area of Zhejiang Province, we released a total of 1 894×104 juvenile swimming crabs in 2014, and conducted a fishery resource investigation and social survey before and after releasing. According to the data, the changes of resource density and spatial distribution of swimming crabs in the Dongtou sea area were analyzed, and the reproduction capacity of the natural group was assessed using intrinsic rate of increase before and after releasing; therefrom the proportion of releasing group was calculated. Meanwhile, on the basis of body size distribution, the percentage of 0 aged group of swimming crabs was calculated by virtual population analysis, and the recapture rate and  economic benefits were estimated to assess releasing effect quantitatively. The results showed that the resource densities were 163 and 7 974 individuals/km² before and after releasing, respectively, showing a trend of spread to surrounding sea areas after releasing. The 0 aged group of swimming crabs and releasing population represented 61.3% and 24.2% of the total catch, respectively, and the recapture rate of releasing population was 3.30%. It was estimated to contribute fishery catch yield of 39.6 t and economic benefit of 158.4×10⁴ Chinese yuan. In summary, stock enhancement can restore swimming crab resources to some extent and increase production and revenue. This study suggests that in the near future, it is proper to carry out stock enhancement of swimming crab in the Dongtou sea area to effectively utilize its marine resources and increase fishery productivity.