Fisheries management

The Northern Prawn Fishery occupies an area of 771,000 square kilometres off Australia’s northern coast. The Fishery extends from the low water mark to the outer edge of the Australian fishing zone (AFZ) along approximately 6,000 kilometres of coastline between Cape York in Queensland and Cape Londonderry in Western Australia.

The NPF is managed through a series of input controls, including limited entry to the fishery, gear restrictions, bycatch restrictions and system of seasonal, spatial and temporal closures.

To fish in the NPF operators must hold Statutory Fishing Rights (SFRs), which control fishing capacity by placing limits on the numbers of trawlers and the amount of gear permitted in the fishery.