US approval for Exmouth prawns

Tuesday, 6 July, 2004 - 22:00

The Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery in Western Australia’s north-west Gascoyne region has received export approval to the $4 billion US export prawn market.

The long-awaited approval was awarded after the US Department of State concluded the harvest of prawns in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery did not pose a threat to sea turtles.

The US recently dropped its import bans following long and innovative research into stricter environmental controls in the Exmouth Gulf Prawn Managed Fishery.

As a result, turtle exclusion devices (TEDs) became mandatory in the fishery two years ago.

They are now an accepted and widely supported measure in many other Australian prawn fisheries, such as the Northern Prawn Fishery.