Seafood CRC: bio-economic model for SA prawn trawl fisheries

Funded Activity Summary

In recent years Australian wild catch prawn fisheries have had to compete with increasing volumes of cheaper, aquacultured imports. This has resulted in reductions in prawn prices and reduced profitability for prawn fisheries. Historically, the primary focus of management for these fisheries has been biological sustainability. Given their demonstrably sustainable management histories, there is now an urgent need to examine approaches for maximising profitability.
South Australia has single species prawn fisheries in Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent that target the Western King prawn. Both fisheries have Management Plans that include a detailed harvest strategy to guide fishing activities, and Performance Indicators (PIs) for assessment of fishery performance. While there are PIs to assess overall economic performance, economic needs are not explicitly considered in the harvest strategy.
The Gulf St Vincent Prawn Fishery (GSVPF) has recently undergone an independent review process, from which bio-economic modeling was identified as the highest priority for research in the fishery. Consequently the Gulf St Vincent Prawn Boat Owner's Association (GSVPBOA) has given endorsement of this research proposal. Similarily, the Spencer Gulf and West Coast Prawn Fishermen's Association has endorsed economic modelling a high priority for the fishery.

Objectives:
1. Collate and analyse available data for the GSV and SG prawn fisheries for integration into the bio-econimc model
2. Modify the existing Eastern king prawn bio-economic model to fit the SG and GSV prawn fishery data
3. Determine economically optimal fishing strategies for the GSV and SG prawn fisheries
4. Develop an approach to incorporate optimal fishing strategies into the harvest strategy for each fishery
5. Provide extension of the developed model and its outputs to stakeholders of other Australian prawn trawl fisheries.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-06-2012

End Date: 31-05-2014

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $132,770.00

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Aquaculture | Biology | Nutrition | Wild Catch

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