Australian Prawns
About Australian Prawns
While prawns are perfect on a bright sunny day, catching them means working through the night. Prawn fishermen must work with nature, fishing in sync with the moon and the tide.
Wild Caught Australian Prawns
There are 15 major prawn fisheries around Australia. Many fishers are family businesses and many families have been fishers for generations. Other fisheries are highly organised vertically integrated businesses employing the latest technology in their fleets.
Australia is blessed with stunning, productive and sustainable fisheries – from the warm tropical waters of the Northern Prawn Fishery to the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, where intrepid crews brave the frigid roaring forties in search of the Western King. The turquoise waters of Shark Bay and Exmouth Gulf in WA serve up a delightful combination of kings, tigers and endeavours and all these fisheries are certified to the international gold standard of sustainability by the Marine Stewardship Council. Queensland’s warm waters are home to the most species of Australian Prawns – the king, banana, tiger, endeavour, coral, scarlet, bay and red spot prawn, but you will find significant fisheries in NSW, South Australia and Western Australia with a boutique fishery off Lakes Entrance in Victoria.
We only catch what is sustainable, which is approximately 20,000 tonnes of wild caught Australian Prawns per year.
Australian Farmed Prawns
Prawn farms are found in the northern parts of Australia, mainly in Queensland.
The warmer waters enable the prawn to grow more rapidly and allow year round production. The main species of prawns farmed are black tiger prawns and banana prawns.
Prawn farming is a drought-free way of producing high-quality Australian prawns today and into the future. Australian prawn farms produce approximately 5,000 tonnes per year and this number is set to grow into the future.
Prawn farming requires enormous investment and prawn farms are subject to very strict environmental controls. Farms help even out the peaks and troughs of prawn production ensuring that between wild caught and farmed prawns, there are plenty to go around.
Did you know?
The prawn catch is limited by what scientists deem is sustainable and adjust their quotas accordingly. On average that equates to 24 Australian prawns per person per year. Did you get yours?