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Banana prawns are found across northern Australia, from WA to QLD. They are sustainable across all jurisdictions. Harvests are highly dependent on seasonal conditions, which influence prawn populations from year to year.

 In Australia the standard fish name Banana Prawn is a group name which refers to the White Banana Prawn, Penaeus merguiensis and the Redleg Banana Prawn, Penaeus indicus. Both species have also been placed in the genus Fenneropenaeus with taxonomy still unsettled [Ferfante and Kensley 1997; Ma et al. 2011; Vance and Rothlisberg 2020 and name usage is mixed among fisheries. White and Redleg banana prawns are often not distinguished in the catch in Australian fisheries. An exception to this is the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf area of the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF), where populations of Redleg banana prawns are specifically targeted. The biological stock structure of Banana Prawn is uncertain. There is some evidence that there may be separate biological stocks of White Banana Prawn within the Northern Prawn Fishery (Commonwealth); however, the boundaries of the biological stocks are unknown [Yearsley et al. 1999]. Banana Prawn fisheries in Western Australia and Queensland are widely separated, but it is not known whether these are completely independent stocks [Tanimoto et al. 2006].

Here, assessment of stock status for Banana Prawns is presented at the management unit level—Northern Prawn Fishery (Commonwealth); Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery, Nickol Bay and Onslow Prawn Managed Fisheries, Kimberley Prawn Managed Fishery (Western Australia); and East Coast (Queensland).

East Coast

Historically, commercial catches of Banana Prawn in the East Coast management unit have shown considerable interannual variation. There was a general increase in catch from a low of 364 tonnes (t) in 2000–01 to a peak of 1 263 t in 2010–11 (otter trawl, beam trawl and set pocket net combined catch). This was followed by a general decreasing trend in the combined catch between 2010–11 and 2021–22. Since 2000, nominal catch rates for the beam trawl sector gradually increased until 2011, then remained relatively stable. Otter trawl sector catch rates generally increased until 2013, then declined until 2016, and were less variable thereafter. Environmental factors have likely contributed to these fluctuations since rainfall and river flow rates are closely linked to Banana Prawn recruitment rates and biomass availability [Tanimoto et al. 2006]. An age-structured stock assessment model of the East Coast (Queensland) management unit estimated an average annual Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) of 802 t based on catch and effort data from 1988–2004 [Tanimoto et al. 2006]. The total commercial catch of Banana Prawns since 2013 has remained below the MSY estimate, ranging from 223 t to 782 t. Total harvest in 2021–22 was at the lower end of this range with a reported 223 t. The above evidence indicates that the biomass of the management unit is unlikely to be depleted, and that recruitment is unlikely to be impaired. 

Since 2017, fishing pressure has been decreasing steadily in the beam trawl and otter trawl fishing sectors; the two main contributors of catch, responsible for 96% of the days fished. Recent ecological risk assessments found that there was a low risk of the management unit becoming recruitment overfished at 2009 effort levels [Pears et al. 2012, Jacobsen et al. 2018]. Compared with 2009, there was a 35% decrease in effort in 2022 (days when Banana Prawn was caught), indicating that, despite an increase in fishing power in the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery fleet (0.4–3.1 per cent per year) [O’Neill and Leigh 2007], fishing pressure on the management unit is not increasing. The above evidence indicates that the current level of fishing mortality is unlikely to cause the management unit to become recruitment impaired. 

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the East Coast (Queensland) management unit is classified as a 

sustainable stock

.

Banana Prawn biology [Huber 2003; Tanimoto et al. 2006; Yearsley et al. 1999]

Distribution of reported commercial catch of BANANA PRAWNS.

Confidentiality prevents the display of spatial data for some fisheries.

Commonwealth – Commercial catch. Catch is for calendar year 2021. Commercial catch in the NPF is only for White Banana Prawns (P. merguiensis).

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.

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

Queensland.ueensland vailable through the Queensland Fisheries Summary Report https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/monitoring-research/data/queensland-fisheries-summary-report. 

Queensland – Commercial (Management Methods) Harvest strategies available at: https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/sustainable/harvest-strategy. 

Commercial catch of BANANA PRAWNS - note confidential catch not shown.

Commonwealth Northern Prawn Fishery catch is for White Banana Prawns (P. merguiensis) only.

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12. Resource Assessment Report for the Onslow Prawn Managed Fishery. (in review).
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