April 01, 2020
Austral Fisheries’ 2020 Banana Prawn & Toothfish Seasons Begin
Today marks the start of the banana prawn season for our Northern Prawn Fleet, as well as the start of the toothfish season for our Southern Ocean Fleet.
It has been no ordinary start. In fact, it has been one hell of a ride as we have attempted to finish refits, locate and mobilise crew, get the boats fueled and provisioned, the crew inducted and sea trailed all as the world dramatically shuts down borders and increases restrictions in response to COVID-19. In all we have 172 crew at sea, on 15 boats, in three fisheries from; the tropics to the sub antarctic.
Readers should understand that for a brief moment the idea of NOT fishing was contemplated as we looked to deliver the safest outcomes for crews, but it became our firm view that the greater good was served by understanding and managing the risks as they emerged and getting on with the job of delivering high quality, sustainable seafood for Australians, while providing our crews, supporting businesses and supply chains with their critical livelihoods.
Risk assessment included seeking the advice of leading health professionals, and formulating risk management plans in the lead up to crew arrival several weeks prior to the season. During Austral’s safety briefings, every crew member was temperature checked and screened to determine their domestic and international travel history in the weeks leading up to the season, and to ensure they had not been exposed to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19.
’I remain incredibly proud of the professionalism and commitment of our crews and support staff for their time away from family and for the incredible job they do to deliver safe and sustainable seafood’ Austral’s CEO David Carter said this week.
For our Northern Prawn Fleet, MSC certified banana prawns are the focus as they spend the next couple of months in the incredible Northern Prawn Fishery. The fishery is Australia’s largest, covering 880,000 square kilometers of tropical waters off Australia’s northern coast, extending from Cape York in Queensland to Cape Londonderry in Western Australia. Less than 12% of this fishery is fished.
Our crew are excited to be providing sustainably caught banana prawns to the Australian public for another year. You can find Austral’s banana prawns in the seafood deli section of supermarkets such as Coles, and you can follow the journey on Instagram via @austral_fisheries and @karumbaprawns.
Down to the Southern Ocean and our crew will be in search of icefish and the highly prized, MSC certified Patagonian toothfish, which you might know as Glacier 51 Toothfish. Our three vessels will spend the next three months in the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Fishery, located approximately 4000km south west of the coast of Western Australia. You can follow us here on Instagram: @glacier51toothfish.
We are also maintaining our fresh fish operation out of Darwin under trying circumstances in order to provide fresh fish to the Australian public in the lead up to Easter.
We wish our entire crew a safe and successful journey, and we will continue to provide updates of their progress throughout the next three months.