PRAWN INDUSTRY

The Hon. L. STEVENS (Little Para) (14:23): My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Have there been improvements in the state of the South Australian prawn industry over the past few years?

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development) (14:24): I thank the member for Little Para for her question and acknowledge her not just keen interest in but love of South Australian seafood—in particular, eating it. I am pleased to report that continual improvements in the management of the state's prawn industry have seen the sector win international praise for its management practices.

The Spencer Gulf Prawn Fishery was recently recognised as being one of the best-managed fisheries in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations based in Rome. In its report entitled 'A global study of shrimp fisheries', the organisation praised the Spencer Gulf prawn fishery as a global model of fair, flexible and accountable management. This accolade comes not by accident. The Spencer Gulf Prawn Fishery demonstrates the excellent outcomes that can be achieved when industry and government work closely together.

Continual growth in the South Australian prawn industry has seen the fishery reach its strongest position in recent years, and I am very pleased to also report that, over the past five years, we have seen continuing growth in catch rates and prawn sizes across three local prawn fisheries, namely, Spencer Gulf, Gulf St Vincent and the West Coast fisheries.

Recent data collected by SARDI Aquatic Sciences has revealed a 41 per cent increase in total catch in the Gulf St Vincent prawn fishery between 2003-04 and 2007-08. The 84 tonne catch in the West Coast prawn fishery during 2008 was the highest since 2001, and a significant increase on the 11.7 tonnes in 2007.

The total catch for the Spencer Gulf prawn fishery during 2007-08 was more than 100 tonnes higher than the long-term average for the fishery. Catch rates have increased despite constant controls being placed on the amount of effort that occurs in the fishery. The number of fishing nights and the amount of fishing gear being used by the industry has been tightly controlled at constant or decreasing levels to ensure the sustainability of that fishery. This is a very important point to note. These improvements in catches are a reflection of increased prawn stock abundance and not simply an increase in fishing effort, which is very positive for the future sustainability of these fisheries.

These are tremendously pleasing results. They show that world's best practice in fisheries management can be achieved by strong collaboration between government and industry, a collaboration that also ensures that we maintain a vigilant approach to stock sustainability. It is quite clear to me that the South Australian prawn industry internationally is no shrimp.