Sourcing sustainable prawns
With Christmas around the corner, many of us are looking to source local prawns from sustainable stocks.
The Status of Australian Fish Stocks Reports 2016 found that 88 per cent of Australia’s prawn stocks are sustainable. They can be sourced from Commonwealth fisheries, as well as those in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.
1. Banana Prawn
All five stocks of Banana Prawn are classified as sustainable, with a combined harvest of less than 5000 tonnes (t) in 2015.
The only stock of Eastern King Prawn in Australia (the Eastern Australian stock) is classified as sustainable. The harvest in 2015 was around 3000 t.
3. Tiger Prawns
Of the eight stocks of Tiger Prawns in Australia, seven are classified as sustainable, while the remaining stock (in New South Wales) is negligible due to the low catches. The total harvest in 2015 was just under 6000 t in 2015.
Of the seven stocks of Endeavour Prawns in Australia, six are classified as sustainable, while the remaining stock (the Northern Prawn Fishery for Red Endeavour Prawns) is undefined in absence of a quantitative stock assessment for the stock. Around 1700 t was harvested in 2015.
Two of Australia’s stocks of Eastern School Prawn are sustainable and the third is classified as undefined (in the absence of reliable biomass estimates), with a harvest of less than 700 tonnes (t) in 2015.
Seven of the eight Western King Prawn stocks are classified as sustainable, with the remaining stock (the Gulf St. Vincent Prawn Fishery) being transitional–depleting due to poor recruitment in the fishery. Slightly more than 3500 t was harvested in 2015.
Specific reports looking at different groupings
JurisdictionReports for each state or territory jurisdiction.
MolluscsMolluscs are invertebrate animals that includes the clams, calamari, squid, octopi and snails.
CrustaceansCrustaceans are a group of animals that include crabs, shrimps, prawns, lobsters and crayfish.
SharksSharks are a subgroup of cartilaginous fishes; usually large, fast swimming, fish-shaped predators.
FinfishFinfish are a vertebrate animals that have gills and live in water.