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TIGER PRAWNS (2020)

Penaeus esculentus, Penaeus semisulcatus

  • Butler, Ian (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science)
  • Butler, Ian (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences)
  • Mervi Kangas (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia)
  • Anthony Roelofs (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland)
  • Matthew D. Taylor (Department of Primary Industries, New South Wales)
  • Brad Zeller (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland)

Date Published: June 2021

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Summary

Tiger Prawn stocks in the Commonwealth, NT, WA and QLD are sustainable. There is one negligible stock in NSW. 

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Stock Status Overview

Stock status determination
Jurisdiction Stock Stock status Indicators
Commonwealth Northern Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn) Sustainable Spawning stock size, effort
Commonwealth Northern Prawn Fishery (Grooved Tiger Prawn) Sustainable Spawning stock size, effort
Commonwealth Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn) Sustainable

Biomass estimate, catch, effort

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Stock Structure

The standard name ‘Tiger Prawn’ refers to the species Penaeus esculentus, Penaeus semisulcatus and Penaeus  japonicus. Only P. esculentus (Brown Tiger Prawn) and P. semisulcatus (Grooved Tiger Prawn) are considered in this chapter; P. japonicus is not caught commercially in Australian waters. 

Brown Tiger Prawns are endemic to tropical and subtropical waters of Australia, while Grooved Tiger Prawns have a wider Indo–West Pacific distribution. There is some genetic evidence of separation of Brown Tiger Prawn stocks from the east and west coasts of Australia [Ward et al. 2006]. 

Here, assessment of stock status is presented at the management unit level—Northern Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn) , Northern Prawn Fishery (Grooved Tiger Prawn) (Commonwealth); Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn) (Jointly managed); Shark Bay Prawn Managed Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn), Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn) (Western Australia), North Coast Prawn Managed Fisheries (Brown Tiger Prawn) (Western Australia; East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery (Brown and Grooved Tiger Prawn) (Queensland); and at the jurisdictional level—New South Wales (Brown Tiger Prawn).

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Stock Status

Northern Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn)

The base-case estimate of the size of the Brown Tiger Prawn spawner stock at the end of 2017 as a percentage of spawner stock size at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) (S2017/SMSY) was 78 per cent (range across sensitivities 69–79 per cent) (Deng et al. 2018). The base-case estimate of the size of the spawner stock as a percentage of stock size at MEY (S2017/SMEY) was 75 per cent (range across sensitivities 67–76 per cent). These results indicate a decline in biomass compared with the 2015 assessment. This decline appears to be largely due to poor recruitment in recent years (Deng et al. 2018), which is of some concern, particularly if this trend continues. However, the abundance indices are within the range of historical variability (Deng et al. 2018), and the 2019 recruitment survey showed that recruitment increased in 2019 (Hutton 2019). For the most recent assessment, the estimate of effort in 2017 as a percentage of effort at MSY (E2017/EMSY) was 52 per cent. The estimate of effort in 2017 as a percentage of effort at MEY (E2017/EMEY) was 42 per cent. Catch of Brown Tiger Prawn in 2019 was 908 t, up from 366 t in 2018 and below the base-case estimate of MSY (1 083 t). Recent fishing pressure is unlikely to cause the management unit to become recruitment impaired [Parsa et al. 2020]. 

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Brown Tiger Prawn management unit in the Northern Prawn Fishery (Commonwealth) is classified as a sustainable stock

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Northern Prawn Fishery (Grooved Tiger Prawn)

The base-case estimate of the size of the Grooved Tiger Prawn spawner stock at the end of 2017 as a percentage of spawner stock size at MSY (S2017/SMSY) was 74 per cent (range across sensitivities 69–84 per cent) (Deng et al. 2018). The base-case estimate of the size of the spawner stock as a percentage of spawner stock size at MEY (S2017/SMEY) was 63 per cent (range across sensitivities 58–64 per cent), indicating a substantial decline in biomass compared with the 2015 grooved tiger prawn assessment. This decline appears to be largely due to poor recruitment in recent years (Deng et al. 2018). For the most recent assessment, the estimate of effort in 2017 as a percentage of effort at MSY (E2017/EMSY) was 49 per cent. The estimate of effort in 2017 as a percentage of effort at MEY (E2017/EMEY) was 71 per cent. The 2019 catch of grooved tiger prawn (1 178 t) was up from 2018 (1097 t) but still below the base-case estimate of long-term average MSY (1 654 t). In summary, although spawner biomass has declined recently, these declines are within the range of historical variability. Recent fishing pressure is unlikely to cause the management unit to become recruitment impaired [Parsa et al. 2020]. 

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Grooved Tiger Prawn management unit in the Northern Prawn Fishery (Commonwealth) is classified as a sustainable stock

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Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn)

The Torres Strait Prawn Fishery operates in the eastern part of the Torres Strait and south in nearby Queensland waters. This fishery is shared by Australia and Papua New Guinea under formal arrangements articulated in the Torres Strait Treaty. Brown Tiger Prawns are harvested at night using demersal otter trawl. 

The last full stock assessment, using fishery-independent surveys and biological data, of Brown Tiger Prawn in Torres Strait was completed in 2006 (O’Neill and Turnbull 2006). Since the 2006 assessment, additional biological and stock structure information has been collected (Turnbull et al. 2009) and further assessments using updated catch-and-effort data have been conducted. The most recent assessment update was in 2019, using updated information on fishing power and catch-and-effort data up to 2018 (Turnbull 2019).  

The 2019 assessment update indicates that Brown Tiger Prawn biomass has been steady over the recent decade, ranging between 60 per cent and 88 per cent of the unfished (1980) biomass. The assessment also found that fishing power has remained constant since 2000 (Turnbull 2019). The updated delay–difference model, using a Beverton–Holt spawner–recruitment curve and recent estimates of catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE), calculated MSY for tiger prawns to be about 617 t (90 per cent confidence interval (CI) 507–763 t), which is comparable with the 2006 assessment of MSY (676 t) (O’Neill and Turnbull 2006).  

Estimated effort at MSY (EMSY) has dropped substantially, from 8 389 to 3 846 fishing nights (90 per cent CI 3 165–4 757 nights), because of the substantial increase in recent CPUE (mean ~160.3 kg/day) relative to that used in the 2006 assessment (mean ~73.5 kg/day) (O’Neill and Turnbull 2006; Turnbull 2019).  

Except for 2017, recent nominal CPUE for Brown Tiger Prawn (100–200 kg/day) has remained generally well above levels reported in the 1990s and early 2000s (50–90 kg/day) (Turnbull and Cocking 2019). 

Catch of Brown Tiger Prawn have fluctuated over time, closely linked to effort and ranging from a high of 965 t in 1998 to a low of 111 t in 2017. Catch has recently increased to 329 t in 2018 and 515 t in 2019. 

Although some uncertainty remains for this stock due to the absence of fishery-independent data (and particularly an independent index of abundance), total effort and total catch in 2019 were substantially below the updated EMSY and MSY, and biomass appears to be substantially above the limit reference point [Butler and Steven 2020]. The above evidence indicates that the biomass of this stock is unlikely to be depleted and that recruitment is unlikely to be impaired. The above evidence also indicates that the current level of fishing mortality is unlikely to cause the stock to become recruitment impaired. 

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Torres Strait Prawn Fishery (Brown Tiger Prawn) management unit is classified as a sustainable stock.

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Biology

Brown and Grooved Tiger Prawn biology [Somers 1987, Yearsley et al. 1999, Kangas et al. 2015 a,b]

Biology
Species Longevity / Maximum Size Maturity (50 per cent)
TIGER PRAWNS 1–2 years, 55 mm CL  East Coast: ~6 month, 32–39 mm CL West coast: ~6 months, 27–35 mm CL Northern Australia: ~6 months, 32–39 mm CL
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Distributions

Distribution of reported commercial catch of Tiger Prawns
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Tables

Fishing methods
Commonwealth
Commercial
Otter Trawl
Management methods
Method Commonwealth
Commercial
Effort limits
Gear restrictions
Limited entry
Spatial closures
Temporal closures
Vessel restrictions
Catch
Commonwealth
Commercial 2.60Kt
Indigenous Unknown

Commonwealth – Recreational The Australian Government does not manage recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters. Recreational fishing in Commonwealth waters is managed by the state or territory immediately adjacent to those waters, under its management regulations.

Commonwealth – Indigenous The Australian Government does not manage non-commercial Indigenous fishing in Commonwealth waters, with the exception of the Torres Strait. In general, non-commercial Indigenous fishing in Commonwealth waters is managed by the state or territory immediately adjacent to those waters. In the Torres Strait, both commercial and non-commercial Indigenous fishing is managed by the Torres Strait Protected Zone Joint Authority (PZJA) through the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (Commonwealth); the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Queensland); and the Torres Strait Regional Authority. The PZJA also manages non-Indigenous commercial fishing in the Torres Strait.

Queensland – Indigenous (management methods) for more information see https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/traditional-fishing

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Catch Chart

Commercial catch of Tiger Prawns - note confidential catch not shown
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References

  1. Parsa, M, Larcombe, J, Butler, I, and Curtotti, R, 2020, Northern Prawn Fishery, in H Patterson, J Larcombe, J Woodhams and R Curtotti (eds), Fishery status reports 2020, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
  2. Butler, I, and Steven, A, 2020, Torres Strait Prawn Fishery, in H Patterson, J Larcombe, J Woodhams and R Curtotti (eds), Fishery status reports 2020, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
  3. Caputi, N 1993, Aspects of spawner-recruit relationships, with particular reference to crustacean stocks: a review, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 44: 589–607.
  4. Caputi, N, de Lestang, S,Hart, A, Kangas, M, Johnston, D and Penn, J 2014b, Catch Predictions in Stock Assessment and Management of Invertebrate Fisheries Using Pre-Recruit Abundance—Case Studies from Western Australia, Reviews in Fisheries Science and Aquaculture, 22:1, 36-54.
  5. Caputi, N, Feng, M, Pearce, A, Benthuysen, J, Denham, A, Hetzel, Y, Matear, R, Jackson, G, Molony, B, Joll, L and Chandrapavan, A 2014a, Management implications of climate change effect on fisheries in Western Australia: part 1, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation project 2010/535, Fisheries research report, Western Australian Department of Fisheries.
  6. Caputi, N, Kangas, M, Hetzel, Y, Denham, A, Pearce, A and Chandrapavan, A 2016, Management adaptation of invertebrate fisheries to an extreme marine heat wave event at a global warming hotspot. Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1002/ece3.2137
  7. Caputi, N, Penn, JW, Joll, LM and Chubb, CF 1998, Stock–recruitment–environment relationships for invertebrate species of Western Australia, in GS Jamieson and A Campbell (eds), Proceedings of the North Pacific Symposium on Invertebrate Stock Assessment and Management, Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 125: 247–255.
  8. Deng, RA, Hutton, T, Punt, A, Upston, J, Miller, M, Moeseneder, C and Pascoe, S 2018, Status of the Northern Prawn Fishery tiger prawn fishery at the end of 2017 with an estimated TAE for 2018 and 2019, report to AFMA, CSIRO, Brisbane.
  9. Department of Fisheries 2014, Shark Bay Prawn Managed Fishery Harvest Strategy 2014–2019, Fisheries Management Paper No. 267, Department of Fisheries, Western Australia.
  10. Department of Fisheries 2015, Harvest Strategy Policy and Operational Guidelines for the Aquatic Resources of Western Australia, Fisheries Management Paper No. 271, Department of Fisheries, Western Australia.
  11. Department of Fisheries 2018, Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery Harvest Strategy 2014 – 2019 Version 1.1. Fisheries Management Paper No. 265. Department of Fisheries, Western Australia.
  12. Gaughan D, Santoro K (eds.) 2020, State of the fisheries and aquatic resources report 2018/19, Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Perth.
  13. Hutton, T, 2019, Milestone progress report NPF RAG assessments 2018–2021, report to AFMA, CSIRO, Brisbane.
  14. Jacobsen, I, Zeller, B, Dunning, M, Garland, A, Courtney T, & Jebreen, E, An Ecological Risk Assessment of the Southern Queensland East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery and River and Inshore Beam Trawl Fishery, Fisheries Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
  15. Kangas, MI, Sporer, EC, Hesp, SA, Travaille, KL, Brand-Gardner, SJ, Cavalli, P and Harry, AV 2015b, Shark Bay Prawn Managed Fishery, Western Australian Marine Stewardship Council Report Series 2: 294 pp.
  16. Kangas, MI, Sporer, EC, Hesp, SA, Travaille, KL, Moore, N, Cavalli, P and Fisher, EA 2015a, Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery, Western Australian Marine Stewardship Council Report Series 1: 273 pp.
  17. O’Neill, MF and Turnbull, CT 2006, Stock assessment of the Torres Strait Tiger Prawn Fishery (Penaeus esculentus), Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Brisbane.
  18. Pears, RJ, Morison, AK, Jebreen, EJ, Dunning, MC, Pitcher, CR, Courtney, AJ, Houlden, B and Jacobsen, IP 2012, Ecological risk assessment of the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: technical report, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville.
  19. Penn, JW, Caputi, N and Hall, NG 1995, Stock–recruitment relationships for the tiger prawn (Penaeus esculentus) stocks in Western Australia, ICES Marine Science Symposium, 199: 320–333.
  20. Punt, AE , Deng, R, Pascoe, S, Dichmont, CM, Zhou, S, Plagányi, ÉE, Hutton, T, Venables, WN, Kenyon, R & van der Velde, T 2011, ‘Calculating optimal effort and catch trajectories for multiple species modelled using a mix of size-structured, delay-difference and biomass dynamics models’, Fisheries Research vol. 109, pp. 201–11
  21. QFish, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, www.qfish.gov.au
  22. Somers, IE 1987, Sediment type as a factor in the distribution of commercial prawn species in the Western Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 38: 133–149.
  23. Taylor, S, Turnbull, C, Marrington, J and George, M (eds) 2007, Torres Strait prawn handbook 2007, Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.
  24. Turnbull, C 2019, Updated tiger prawn stock assessment for the Torres Strait prawn fishery: a final report to AFMA for the TSPMAC and TSSAC, project 180802, Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.
  25. Turnbull, C and Cocking, L 2019, Torres Strait Prawn Fishery Data Summary 2019, Australian Fisheries Management Authority. Canberra, Australia.
  26. Turnbull, C, Tanimoto, M, O’Neill, MF, Campbell, A and Fairweather, CL 2009, Torres Strait spatial management research project 2007–09, final report for DAFF consultancy DAFF83/06, Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, Brisbane.
  27. Wang, N, 2015, Application of a weekly delay-difference model to commercial catch and effort data in multi-species fisheries, PhD Thesis, University of Queensland and Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Brisbane.
  28. Ward, R, Ovenden, J, Meadows, J, Grewe, P and Lehnert, S 2006, Population genetic structure of the brown tiger prawn, Penaeus esculentus, in tropical northern Australia, Marine Biology, 148(3): 599–607.
  29. Wise, BS, St. John, J and Lenanton, R 2007, Spatial scales of exploitation among populations of demersal scalefish: Implications for management. Part 1: Stock status of the key indicator species for the demersal scalefish fishery in the West Coast Bioregion. Report to the FRDC on Project No. 2003/052. Fisheries Research Report No 163. Department of Fisheries, Western Australia, 130 pp.
  30. Yearsley, GK, Last, PR and Ward, RD 1999, Australian seafood handbook: domestic species, CSIRO Marine Research, Hobart.

Downloadable reports

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