Australians are being urged to eat more wild-caught tiger prawns, as fishers move away from sending their produce overseas.

It's been a slow start to the season in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Queensland; catches are down but fishers are also facing challenging international markets amid tough economic conditions.

Austral Fisheries is one of the largest commercial fishing companies in Australia.

Northern prawn division operations manager Bryan Van Wyck said due to an oversupply on the international market, they could not get the prices they were accustomed to.

So instead, they want Australians to buy their product.

"I think Australian seafood should really be in Australia for Australians to enjoy," he said.

"We're very much looking around how we can increase the tiger prawn sales and consumption here in our homeland."

Standout on the Christmas table

Austral does already supply the domestic market, but with banana prawns rather than tiger prawns.

"[Banana prawn] is quite cheap and affordable, but it's also really tasty," Mr Van Wyck said.

While wild-caught tiger prawns fetched premium prices internationally, they also have a cult following at fish markets in some parts of Australia.

They're the top seller at Ocean World Seafood Market in Cairns, in Far North Queensland.

Owner Peter Adams said he could sell up to 300 kilograms per week.

"We buy cooked-at-sea tiger prawns and they're cooked on the boats and snap frozen," he said.

"We just think they give out the best product."

He said his customers preferred wild-caught prawns to farmed.

"I know demand in our place here, north of Rockhampton, the cooked tigers are our mainstay."

Mr Adams said he had noticed a small drop in supply this year but hadn't had problems stocking the cabinet at his business.

"It's easy to market for us, and they're a good value … consistent product," he said.

Mr Adams said anecdotally he'd heard demand for the wild-caught product was picking up further south too.

"I believe they are getting into the wild-caught market. It's probably price and demand and value."

Mr Van Wyck said tiger prawns were considered a luxury and the industry was targeting shoppers to buy them for special occasions, such as Christmas.

"Tiger prawns is one of those things that really stand out on a Christmas table and impress all your guests," he said.

Declining demand

Mr Van Wyck said tiger prawn export prices had dropped by about 20 per cent on last year and the year before, and some grades had dropped by up to 30 per cent.

The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) reported the average unit export price for Australian prawns had dropped from $36.68 per kilo to $28.41 per kilo in 2024.

He said the industry had historically received premium prices for tiger prawns, but the flooding of global markets from aquaculture farms had impacted prices.

"They're bringing down the prices of everything else," he said

"There's always been a bit of a gap between low value and high value product overseas, but that gap is now becoming too large."

Mr Van Wyck said their traditional markets in Asia just didn't have the appetite to pay high prices anymore, meaning they could no longer compete in those international markets.

"You have to catch about 20 per cent more just to end up at that same price point, and then you have to consider the fact that fuel is very high," he said.

The suspension of Sea Swift motherships in 2023 has increased fuel costs for northern fishers, who are now struggling without easy access to supply.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) showed the value of Australian prawns was forecast to decrease by 3 per cent, to $484 million, with further declines anticipated next year.

It has been attributed to lower wild-caught catches and lower international prices.

The volume of Australian prawn exports in 2022-23 was estimated to be 4,464 tonnes. 

That is expected to drop to 4,128 tonnes in 2023-24, according to ABARES.