Arabic version: أسطول صيد روبيان النمر يتراجع إلى أدنى مستوى قياسي

According to ABC News, only 27 trawlers have set sail for the tiger prawn season in northern Australia, about half the number that operated last year. The season in the Northern Prawn Fishery runs from August 1 to November 30.

The fleet total is the lowest on record for the fishery, which was established in 1966 when two boats began fishing for banana prawns near Karumba. By 1970, more than 200 boats were operating there. Australia Bay Seafoods general manager Michael O’Brien said he remembered 302 boats in the fishery more than 50 years ago, before government and industry reductions brought the fleet to 52 trawlers over the past two decades.

This is also the first tiger prawn season without seafood company A Raptis and Sons operating. Thirteen trawlers previously owned by the company are moored at Karumba after the business entered administration earlier this year. Administrators FTI Consulting said in a mid-July report to creditors that six non-binding indicative offers had been received, but none could be accepted. Two vessels and associated licences in South Australia were later sold following negotiations with one party.

Some other operators are staying out of the season because of high fuel prices and new equipment restrictions. Mr O’Brien said fuel accounts for between 26 and 29 per cent of costs in his business, with each vessel using about 45 to 50 tonnes of diesel a month. He said rising prices made it difficult for potential investors to make the figures work.

Mr O’Brien said surveys indicated a strong tiger prawn season, though he warned that lower production could put export markets at risk. FV Warloch skipper Bill West, who sailed from Darwin towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, said he had barely seen another boat during much of the banana prawn season. After that bountiful season, he said he was hopeful for tiger prawns but noted there were no guarantees.