The northern prawn fishery (NPF) has two seasons – the first season targeting common banana prawns and the second season targeting tiger prawns, redleg banana prawns and associated byproduct, with the same boats operating across both seasons. A 31% reduction in the NPF fleet size, through limiting headrope value of gear statutory fishing right (SFRs), was imposed prior to the second season of 2026. This reduction was implemented to meet the needs of the tiger prawn sub-fishery and was a direct response to the financial stress the fishery had recently experienced due to relatively low prawn prices and rising fuel costs. However, the impact of the fleet reduction on the common banana prawn sub-fishery is unclear. Specifically, whether reduced fishing mortality from a smaller fishing fleet could be offset by the high prawn production rate to enable total catches to be maintained; this is an empirical question that has not previously been addressed.
Common banana prawns are short lived species with high natural mortality, high growth rate and a dynamic recruitment process driven primarily by rainfall. The common banana prawn component of the NPF is a depletion fishery which is currently harvested competitively (i.e., race to fish) with an opening and closing date. We assess the implications of reduced fleet size on this sub-fishery in terms of harvest and gross margins at both the fleet and individual vessel level using a bioeconomic model. We find that catch rates can be maintained longer with a reduced fleet, resulting in similar total catches being achieved despite a smaller fleet. At the vessel level, gross margins increase as fleet size decreases. Given the low current profitability of the tiger prawn sub-fishery, the benefits derived from the banana prawn sub-fishery will have a substantial positive impact on the overall profitability of the remaining vessels.