Western king prawn

The prawn fishery in the Spencer Gulf, in Southern Australia, has been MSC-certifiedMSC Certified:
Fisheries that comply with the Marine Stewardship Council assessment criteria and are certified. Fish products with the blue MSC label are caught by sustainable fisheries. since 2011. The prawns are caught with a bottom otter trawl with a grid in the end of the net which prevents bycatch. Several other Australian prawn fisheries are in the MSC assessment program.

Most shrimp stocks in this region are intensively fished or overfished, which pressures the stocks. Illegal fishery plays a big part in this. Catch data are unreliable.

Trawling fisheries have generally much bycatch, including young, undersized fish. 20-80% of the catch is bycatch, of which much is discarded. At some places everything is landed. Furthermore, there is incidental bycatch of protected species, like sea turtles, rays and sharks. Fishing with trawls touches the bottom and there is a direct disruption of the bottom life. Intensive fishing with bottom trawls leads on the long-term to a change in species composition in the sea. This is especially the case for vulnerable habitats like coral reefs and sea grass fields that occur in this region.

Most shrimp fisheries in this region are not or hardly regulated, which makes it unclear whether the existing measures are being followed.