The Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) 2017 banana prawn season has got off to a great start with catches some of the best for several years. And while we may be heading into the colder months, banana prawns from the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF) are a delight that can be enjoyed all year round.
Lovers of prawns should know that not only do NPF banana prawns taste great, but they come from a fishery that has been a leader in sustainability, with the first NPF bycatch action plan being launched in 1998 – 19 years ago!
A lot of things have changed in that time (remember ICM and dial up internet?), but one thing that hasn’t changed is the industry’s continued commitment to improving fishing operations.
Working together with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) as the Commonwealth regulator, industry-led initiatives have extended improvements already achieved by the NPF in reducing its impact on bycatch populations, particularly for turtles and other large marine animals, such as sharks, through the use of turtle excluder devices.
The industry body for the fishery, NPF Industry Pty Ltd, in 2015 released a voluntary three-year strategy to pursue an additional 30 per cent reduction of bycatch in the fishery. In collaboration with AFMA, industry developed and tested the Kons Covered Fisheye device with a focus on reducing bycatch of smaller fish. The device proved to be very effective, reducing bycatch by approximately 36 per cent compared with other devices in use. The device has been approved for use in the NPF this year.
The NPF Industry was rewarded for its stewardship by receiving the ‘blue tick’ of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification in 2012 and is currently going through the recertification process.
Having these measures in place means great news for lovers of wild-caught prawns, who can continue to enjoy the NPF’s mouth-watering morsels now and into the future.
So whether you enjoy a spicy coconut prawn curry, a chilli and mint prawn salad, or perhaps sticky honey prawns and rice, you can be assured that you are making a sustainable choice when choosing prawns from the NPF.
For more information on how AFMA manages the Northern Prawn Fishery, visit afma.gov.au.