This project addresses the 2013 NSW FRAB research priority “Understanding environmental impacts on commercially important species”. The paucity of knowledge of EKP nursery habitats in NSW is a significant problem, as the estuarine nursery phase is the period where EKP are most likely to be affected by (non-fishing) anthropogenic activities and potentially represents a recruitment bottleneck which directly affects productivity. Investment in research in the southern United States has found that:
1) There is quantitative relationship between intertidal vegetation and the yield of penaeid prawns (Turner, 1977);
2) Restoration of connectivity and rehabilitation of saltmarsh areas has a quantifiable benefit for prawn fisheries (Rozas et al., 2005).

Research into estuarine nursery habitats for EKP in south-eastern Queensland forms the basis of the sustainable management of their prawn fishery through a recruitment index. In NSW, however, there is a paucity of knowledge on the early life history stages, including recruitment to estuaries, use of estuarine habitats by natural recruits, and factors that affect growth and survival of young EKP. Regulating river flows in estuaries and restricting tidal flow into wetlands can destroy connectivity between new recruits and their nursery areas. NSW commercial fishers have indicated that wetlands in the lower portion of estuaries (such as Hexham Swamp in the Hunter River) were historically significant nursery areas for EKP, prior to their destruction. These anecdotes highlight a need to understand the nursery habitats and hydrographic conditions that contribute to the EKP fishery in NSW. An understanding of the nursery function of these areas, the extent of habitats lost, remaining and restored, is required to provide a basis for assessing the competing costs and benefits of habitat rehabilitation. Further, this project represents an important case study to highlight the potential financial benefits to fisheries of rehabilitation and restoration of appropriate estuarine habitats.

There are many opportunities for product to deteriorate in the value chain. However appropriate correction actions imply a transparent view of handling conditions. For seafood in general, temperature has the greatest effect on product quality. However, it is not just temperature but exposure time. As such, knowing the specific time-temperature profile of a product is essential to interpret effects of steps in the supply chain that maximise quality, and those that do not. Knowing where correct handling occurs will allow an industry to focus its resources on where mistakes are made.

Currently, knowledge about the performance of prawn chains is mostly anecdotal and doesn’t ensure that remedial actions are appropriately targeted. A remedy to this problem is Time-Temperature Indicators (TTIs) that provide clear evidence about chain performance and permit fisheries and the ACPF to plan corrective actions.

However the effects of time-temperature on quality parameters cannot be extrapolated across all product forms. For example, microbiological changes that affect quality occur at different rates for raw versus cooked product, and for frozen versus chilled product. Such differences are influenced by physical process that can reduce microbial load, inactivate/activate chemical reactions and increase water activity. In addition, microbial load and types of spoilage organisms can differ by fishery. For example, tropical conditions select for species of bacteria that do not survive well under refrigeration, whereas fisheries in cooler environments do.

For these reasons, this project will develop predictive tools that consider the effect of fishery and product type on changes in prawn quality, thus providing industry with robust tools for improving handling practices. However, successfully using these tools assumes that industry collects time-temp data. Therefore, this project will test and identify TTIs that are suitable (accurate, robust, cost-effective) for prawn supply chains.

East Coast Trawl Fishery (ECTF) involves fishers, agent and/or wholesaler, processors, various industry and government organisations and retailers. The lack of collaboration and production activities due to the lengthy coast and long distance between trawl areas along with a multi species fishery has resulted in the fishery becoming (i) a production focused industry and (ii) location oriented rather than whole of state or whole of fishery oriented industry. Consequently, intense competition exists within East Coast Trawl throughout the whole supply and value chain. This has been exacerbated by the decline in the value of Queensland prawn production over the past five years caused by record high fuel costs; labour shortages; competition from imported product and the strong Australian dollar. Furthermore, ACPF have identified a whole of industry approach as a research priority with an objective to identify a specific opportunity/strategy to pursue, not as individual fishers, but as a collective fishery. This project aims to develop a framework and benchmark case study to identify the leadership qualities and commitment within the ECTF. The implementation of a market opportunity/strategy will assess the identified ECTF leadership group and the network’s ability to increase long term profitability for the fishery.
The industry has identified and agreed to the need to develop collaboration within the fishery to leverage existing and future market opportunities. The understanding and building of industry social capital to support internal leadership through a network analysis is seen as fundamental to the development, coordination and implementation of a market approach for the industry.

The Directors of the Australian Council of Prawn Fishers have set the Forum dates to comply with the agreements made at the March 2009 meeting.

Commercial fishers believe that immediate action is required to improve the economic viability of the Moreton Bay Trawl Fishery (MBTF). Challenges relate to inefficiencies and resource utilisation, specifically (i) gear efficiency; (ii) harvest rules; (iii) fuel consumption; (iv) over-capitalisation; (v) seasonal closure effects on deployment of capital; (vi) harvesting for market demand; and (vii) environmental impacts of the fishery. In addition, the fishery is operating in a global environment of falling prawn prices and increasing fuel prices.

Exacerbating these challenges is the recent implementation of the Moreton Bay Marine Park Zoning Plan. In addition to loss of fishing grounds for conservation, the State Government’s Marine Park Structural Adjustment Package, which sought to remove active fishing licences from the Bay, failed to address effort displacement. This has led to reduced economic yield from fished areas and increased ecological impacts. The impacts to fishers include increased competition in open areas, higher steaming, social and labour costs, and market impact through targeting sub-optimal product. In summary, the ecological, social and economic costs to fishers have increased.

The rising costs of production have motivated fishers to address profitability. Harvest strategies aimed at optimising economic performance would help address these issues and potentially offer the MBTF greater resource security.

Implementation of harvest strategies may be improved by changing the regulatory framework of the fishery. This would provide benefits from a compliance, monitoring and reporting perspective. Currently, the 10 year review of the Queensland East Coast Trawl Fishery Management Plan is underway. Whilst the primary objective of the review is to update the Plan with respect to delivering the best long term economic benefits for society through effective and sustainable management of Queensland’s fisheries resources, it also provides an opportunity for regulatory change for improved harvest strategies in the MBTF