Record prawn catch
BOWEN prawn trawlers are riding a wave of record catches that fishers and wholesalers say may be the best in the region’s recent history.
Arabon Seafoods owner Terry Must said the eight locally docked trawlers now at work in the region between Townsville and the Whitsundays have increased their average tiger prawn catch by more than half since last year, putting it above any records since he has been in the industry.
“It’s the best prawn season we’ve ever seen,” Mr Must said. “I started off in prawn trawlers myself in the late ’ 80s. Four hundred pounds ( 181kg) was considered a good catch then and they’re reporting 400 pound a night now – nearly double that, at times.”
He said recent hauls this week had dropped to 300 pounds ( 136kg), but only because of a coming full moon which naturally subdues prawn findings.
“Six years ago we had a problem here – there was nothing,” Mr Must said.
“Because we had nothing, no one fished it, so it’s been left alone for nearly five years.
“We knew there were prawns out there last year. A few local boats got into them, but this year it’s been 50 per cent better than last year.”
He said as the southern season wrapped up and word spread, he expected the number of trawlers to increase soon, with the season continuing until October.
Trawler Denis Varrett of ASA Fisheries at Mooloolaba said he had been coming up annually for years out of habit, despite declining catches, but this year his hauls had taken a major upward turn.
“All of a sudden
it’s
just come on back – it’s the best I’ve seen in a long, long time,” he said. “The first time I ever came up here I was 15.”
He said Mr Must’s estimate of a 50 per cent increase in catch was “easily” the case in his experience.
“My best night was about 650 pounds ( 295kg) for the night,” he said.
“An average night last year was 330 pounds ( 150kg).
“Some haven’t seen here for five years.”
He said the jump would put Bowen’s prawn take up on par with the rest of the state.
“At the moment the best spot has been here. It’s actually turning around,” he said. “I’ll probably be here for the next three months.”
tigers