Live Prawns
Fishermen on the southwest coast of Ireland have begun to land large live prawns, commonly known as “Langoustines”.
Responsible activities
Working in conjunction with BIM and their local fishermen’s organisation, the ISWFPO, fishermen have adapted their fishing techniques and improved their onboard handling practices to land a premium quality product.
Fishermen are using more selective nets fitted with separating panels that sort the prawns from the rest of the catch. The use of such panels means that juvenile fish as well as juvenile prawns can be returned to the wild, with only small amounts of high value prawns retained.
This allows more of the catch to be of the correct quality for the live market, and reduces the sorting time for the crew. It also allows prawns to be graded and packed within 30 minutes of landed on deck.
Quality
The inshore vessels participating in the project deliver top quality, live prawns by reducing towing times to less than 2 hours. Onboard the vessels, prawns are kept alive by storing them in specially designed tubes and trays which fit into chilled seawater tanks. Prawns are carefully graded onboard into three sizes: small, medium or large; the large being 6 to 10 prawns/kg.
Only prawns in excellent condition are used for the live trade, and the rest of the catch is landed for the traditional “scampi” market. Live prawns are collected from the vessels immediately upon reaching port and delivered to a holding facility nearby. This allows the prawns to recover from the rigours of capture and transport, and facilitates double-checking for mortalities, prior to dispatch.
Individual trays are numbered and labelled at sea, which guarantees full traceability from the catcher to the buyer. When ready for dispatch, prawns are transported by vivier lorry or air freighted chilled and dry in 4kg polystyrene boxes.
Supply
Trawlers involved in the scheme pool their landings to ensure a continuity of supply between 250-500kg per week, from May to October.
Customers can be confident that:
- Vessels use recognised selective fishing devices in their nets;
- Tow times are restricted to no more than 2 hours to ensure quality;
- Prior to dispatch to the marketplace, live prawns are held in a fully equipped holding facility;
- Prawns are accurately graded and carefully checked for mortalities prior to dispatch;
- Individual trays of prawns are labelled at sea to facilitate full traceability back to the boat.
View/Download the Live Prawns from the Southwest leaflet (577kb) in pdf format below.
Live Prawns from the Southwest leaflet (577kb)
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