Prawn Farming

Rumor has it that like many great Australian innovations, the idea to farm prawns in Australia started over a cold beer at the local pub.

Farming prawns has several benefits over the more traditional method of harvesting prawns, trawling. Trawling is subject to closure periods, and can catch only limited amounts to ensure the sustainability of the wild prawn populations. As the prawn farming industry has matured over the last twenty years, so has the quality of the prawns they produce, and a recent Queensland Government blind taste test put farmed black tiger prawns as the best prawn for taste, texture and appearance.

The industry is playing an important and growing role in some of regional Australia's toughest and most remote areas. It employs over 1,000 people in jobs such as marine biologists, food processors, business administrators, transport, construction and maintenance to name a few. The industry truly values its people, and realises that producing the world's best prawns relies on them.

Simon from the ABC cooking show 'the cook and the chef' recently visited some prawn farmers in Ingham, north Queensland.