Developing methods for live export of western king prawns
The successful marketing of live farmed prawns shows that there is significant potential for adding value to Australia's prawn catch by exporting live wild-caught prawns. South Australia's Gulf St Vincent (GSV) provided an ideal environment for examining export opportunities. Firstly, GSV produces a large prawn (the western king prawn penaeus latisulcatus) by world standards; certainly relative to farmed prawns. Consumers in premium seafood markets prefer large prawns. Secondly, GSV is situated within easy access to an international air terminal with prawns capable of being airfreighted within hours of capture. Thirdly, the GSV fishery has actively supported initiatives in gear design to minimise damage to prawns and is keen to promote value-adding initiatives to its low volume (200-300t.p.a) fishery. Lastly, the clean and green environmental work practices established in the GSV fishery provide additional promotional opportunities in positioning Australian seafood in premium export markets. The need for improved product handling and distribution channels, addressed in relation to prawns, extends to other South Australian seafood sectors.
Final report
People development program: Visiting expert - Reviewing the effective implementation of EBFM frameworks and the benefits to the broader community (R. Stephenson (Canadian Fisheries Research Network) )
Australian and Canadian fisheries face the challenges of evolving domestic and international policies, the move to full implementation of ‘ecosystem’ and ‘integrated’ management approaches, and increasing market (and general public) pressure for certification of sustainability. The evolving landscape of management demands increased participation of fishers in management processes and shared stewardship responsibility, along with the need to adapt to changes in the ecosystem and public perceptions of sustainability. Several individuals and groups in Australia and elsewhere are wrestling with these issues. The need to develop sound and workable methods of implementing ecosystem based approaches to fisheries, has as one of its outcomes a benefit of generating reportable benchmarks of management performance that can generate increased public trust in the management of common resources. At this time there is need for a review of the approaches and priorities that have been developed around ecosystem based approaches to management, how easily and effective they are to implement, and how these can contribute to the generation of a ‘licence to manage’ for fisheries management agencies.