It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas with seafood on Queensland plates

• Seafood at the centre of Christmas plans for Queenslanders
• Tiger prawn, Endeavour prawn and Moreton Bay bug stocks deemed sustainable
• Findings based on more than 50 years of data
• Multi million-dollar industry supporting tens of thousands of jobs and investment along the Queensland coast

Queensland seafood will once again take pride of place on Christmas tables across the state, with plentiful supplies of the best prawns, bugs and fish in the world.

And if you’re in need of another reason to make wild-caught Queensland prawns and bugs the star of your Christmas feast this year, we’ve got good news.

Not only are they delicious, fresh and available in abundance, but a new assessment shows our tiger prawns and bugs are also sustainable resources and at 79 per cent and 78 per cent of unfished levels respectively.

These high levels help the economic performance of the trawl fishing fleet, promoting economic and environmental sustainability.

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) researchers drew upon more than 50 years of data up until 2021 to assess stocks and worked with commercial fishers to better understand fishing practices.

The results indicate they are some of the best-managed fisheries in the world. The assessment found that Moreton Bay sand bugs, east coast tiger prawns, and east coast Endeavour prawns are all being harvested within sustainable limits in the East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery.

The East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery extends the length of the Queensland east coast from Cape York to the New South Wales border.

Data was compiled from a range of commercial and government sources to inform the assessment, which was conducted by scientists from the Fisheries Queensland Stock Assessment Program.

The East Coast Otter Trawl Fishery has a long history of pro-active management and industry engagement, including the mandated use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRD), real time vessel tracking, zoning and strict harvest limits.

The full stock assessment reports can be found at www.daf.qld.gov.au/.

Industry reports indicate supplies of fresh seafood will be plentiful in the days leading up to Christmas.

The Queensland Government supported a national Taste The Wild campaign in partnership with a $50,000 investment, with campaign material featuring in many retail outlets across the state.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner:

“When it comes to providing fresh, delicious, wild-caught seafood, Queensland is leading the way,” Mr Furner said.

“This latest assessment is further proof that we can continue to provide some of the world’s highest quality prawns and bugs while preserving stocks for future generations to enjoy.

“I thank industry for their input and advice into the stock assessment process.

“Christmas in Australia is a great time to enjoy a seafood feast and as always we can really say it’s a great time to throw another Queensland shrimp on the barbie.

“When you are buying quality Queensland seafood you are supporting good jobs right across the state and getting some of the best fresh seafood in the world.”

ENDS