Fifteen vessels are licensed to trawl for prawns in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery. However, only 13 vessels fished, with the net headrope from the two retired vessels redistributed amongst five active trawlers, allowing them to tow 4.5 fathom quad gear. The fleet headrope length has been adjusted not to exceed previous effort levels with fewer boats and 6 fathom of headrope was unused.
The species caught are king prawns, tiger prawns, endeavour prawns and banana prawns. The king and tiger prawn stocks are fully exploited. Total landings of major penaeids for the 2003 season were ~1,089 tonnes, an increase on the very low catches seen in 2000. The tiger prawn catches have improved since the very low catch taken in 2000 due to Cyclone Vance and is now within the acceptable catch range for the species.
Project and activity description
Building up and maintaining an adequate spawning stock of tiger prawns is imperative in the Exmouth Gulf prawn fishery. This requires close monitoring of the catch rates of tiger prawns during the fishing season and closure of areas when catch rates fall below a threshold limit.
Analysis of the improvement in the efficiency of the current fleet with the move from twin to quad gear has been completed and a new appropriate catch rate threshold is used to ensure that tiger prawn spawning stocks are not overfished.
In recent years, the seagrass abundance has been monitored at key sites as this important habitat for juvenile prawns was severely damaged by Cyclone Vance in 1999.
The project provides:
* an overview annual report on the status of the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery;
* management advice as to the long-term sustainability of the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery;
* research directed to maintain Exmouth Gulf prawn resources at ecologically sustainable levels and to maximise economic and social benefits from this fishery ; and
* a smaller project involving monitoring of seagrass regenerations and establishment of a long-term monitoring system and sites.
There is an intensive program of liaison with Industry representatives and fishers as part of our logbook and survey/monitoring program.
Time: ongoing.
