The report is based on both relevant secondary research and empirical marketing knowledge as well as primary consumer research, focusing on younger consumers. The instruments used encompass in‐depth interviews, focus groups, intercept surveys and a quantitative survey. Key areas for investigation include product origin and colour influences, product form preferences, barriers to purchase and communication.

Key findings of the study include:

1. Australians exhibit a strong preference for locally grown prawns; however, there is a lack of an Australian offering in some prawn sub‐categories.
2. Clear preferences for fresh over frozen and whole over peeled product forms and expressed lack of interest in pre‐packaged prawns.
3. Price is by far the most common reason people don't buy prawns.
4. Most consumers eat prawns, however only 1 in 3 young consumers are likely to buy their own.
5. The limited number of 'brand‐attribute' associations that consumers have with prawns.
6. Buying behaviour of prawns is generally low in involvement and habitual.
7. Consumers buy from repertoires, so may 'switch' between prawns and other meat/seafood products from one purchase situation to the next.
8. The limited number of 'brand‐attribute' associations that consumers have with prawns.

From these key findings six main areas of strategy were identified and discussed. These strategies were: communications, product form, pricing, target market, distribution and industry development.

Objectives:

1. To make recommendations aimed to facilitate the long term sustainability of the selective breeding programs in Australia
2. To ensure that the process and progress of the review is communicated clearly and transparently to industry stakeholders
3. To review options for the production of a generic selective breeding genetic database (go no-go decision subject to action plan)

Outcomes Achieved:

Options/recommendations for the commercialisation of these specific breeding programs leading to decisions on future directions and business plans for commercialisation of those programs have been presented to each of the sectors concerned. The review either directly or indirectly led to:

1. New plans for the commercialisation of oyster selective breeding
2. A new project to assess possibilities for the commercialisation of genetics services in Australia (led by CSIRO)
3. Acceptance of a centralised selective breeding model by the barramundi industry and acceptance that alternative funding options for selective breeding need to be explored

Several Australian companies currently have breeding programs producing domesticated and selective-bred Penaeus monodon lines. The most advanced of these lines have demonstrated high commercial pond performance over several generations. However, there is a risk for the breeding program companies, due to on-sale or on-rearing of their selected postlarvae. To avoid this problem, genetic protection for the selectively bred prawns is required; however, to-date there is no commercial method for fail-proof genetic protection of prawns. Triploid induction is the only methodology that has been trialled experimentally that shows promise of genetic protection in prawns. However, there are limited reports of triploid induction in Black Tiger Prawns and no studies have reared the larvae through to harvest age and conducted rigorous performance measurements for this species.

This project aimed to develop a technique that would be suitable for commercial triploid induction (which gives each individual an extra set of their own chromosomes; a process that occurs sporadically in nature) of whole spawnings of the Giant Tiger Prawn. A methodology was developed to induce whole spawn triploidy with temperature and chemical shocks. However, hatch rates from this system were consistently low. Despite this a chemical induced triploid family with a high induction rate and reasonable larval survival was produced at a commercial hatchery, allowing rigorous tank-based performance assessments to be carried out.

The overall performance of triploids was comparable to other penaeid prawn species with some exceptions. In triploids, survival was lower, and females were significantly larger. Furthermore, there were more males than females with a 1:1.625 sex ratio and reproductive age triploids were unable to produce viable offspring. This demonstrates that triploidy would provide the industry with a method of genetic protection for Black Tiger Prawns, however significant challenges in maintaining high hatch rates, survival rates and induction rates of the triploids when inducing whole spawnings on a commercial scale still remain.

The economic viability of the Australian prawn farming industry is under threat from increased production of farmed prawns in south-east Asia and the substantial decrease in global prawn prices.  The Australian industry is experiencing difficulty competing with imports; prawns can be landed from China and Thailand for about $8 per kg, compared with the current cost of production in Australia of about $10 per kg.  The industry is also under increasing pressure from environmental regulators to reduce the scale and impacts of sediment and nutrient discharges from prawn farms.  There is a critical need to develop production technology for black tiger prawns (Penaeus monodon) that enables Australian prawn farmers to gain the same improvements in production efficiency that have been achieved overseas with Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), with high intensity, low discharge systems.  Australian Prawn Farms Pty Ltd (APF) investigated the production technology used for L. vannamei and concluded that it was not suitable for Australian farming conditions and for the culture of P. monodon.  As a result, APF did some preliminary trials using their own ideas for a low water exchange system that was more suitable for P. monodon, with promising results.  However, to make further progress, there was a need for a broader and more extensive research effort than APF could do on its own without some external funding and scientific support.