The prawn fishing industry in the Gulf of Carpentaria is worth $100 million/year and a large proportion of this is from catches of banana prawns. In one stage of their complex life history, banana prawn larvae are carried by ocean currents from their spawning grounds to the estuarine nursery areas.

The aim of this project was to define the currents that carry the larvae so that the life history can be more fully understood and various biological hypothesis concerning the banana prawn and in particular the behaviour of larvae can be fully tested. To achieve these goals a mixture of field work and theoretical modelling and cooperation between physical oceanographers and fisheries biologists was required.