Endeavour prawn stock

Species

• Endeavour prawns (Metapenaeus endeavouri and Metapenaeus ensis)

Fish stock status

Stock assessment

The 2023 stock assessment used current biological, survey and commercial catch data to estimate the:

• biomass of the biological stock
• fishing pressure on the biological stock.

The assessment team used a delay-difference biomass model, based on previous stock assessments. 14 scenarios were run, covering a range of modelling assumptions.

The results for the project team’s preferred scenario indicated that biomass in 2021 was between 54% and 87%, most likely at 69% for the east coast endeavour prawn stock north of 22 degrees latitude.

Biomass estimates and key management actions

Estimated retained catch from 1958 to 2021

Project team

The stock assessment project team had a wide range of skill sets, and included:

• managers, scientists, monitoring and data specialists from our department
• 2 industry representatives.

The team operated under the terms of reference (PDF, 154KB) to ensure:

• team member roles and tasks were clearly defined
• processes were well documented.

We thank the project team for contributing their time and knowledge and engaging constructively over the course of a 17-month project.

We acknowledge the significant time commitment and deep operational and technical expertise of our industry representatives. The project has benefited greatly from their input. Future assessments should continue to engage with industry members to further enhance assessments and build collaboration between industry and government.

Ecological risk assessment

Assessed in the 2018: Southern Queensland east coast otter trawl fishery and river and inshore beam trawl fishery (PDF, 4MB)

Management

East coast otter trawl fishery:

• Northern trawl region harvest strategy
• Trawl working group