Community education paves the way
The Shark Bay Prawn Trawler Operator’s Association was recognised for its community education and marketing programs when they were presented the Seafood Industry Promotion Award at the 2021 Western Australian Seafood Industry Awards.
The award category is sponsored by Austral Fisheries.
The Awards event, recognising excellence in the WA seafood industry, was held at The Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle and opened by Minister for Fisheries Hon Don Punch MLA in front of a large audience of industry participants and seafood representatives.
MG Kailis Group and Sea Harvest work together under the Shark Bay Prawn Trawler Operators’ Association banner to achieve mutually beneficial initiatives for the Exmouth Gulf and Shark Bay northern prawn trawling industry.
The wild catch prawn sector is Australia’s largest trawling sector and one of the largest producers of seafood to the domestic market, however, a lack of social license to operate was identified as an ongoing threat to the industry. To address this issue, the Association conducted an extensive promotional campaign to build trust, help educate and positively influence the community’s perception of the seafood industry.
WA Fishing Industry Council CEO, Darryl Hockey said the Shark Bay Prawn Trawler Operator’s Association had demonstrated excellence in developing and undertaking a promotion activity that has contributed substantially towards improving the public profile of the seafood industry.
“As an industry body, we recognise the importance of social license and acknowledging those individuals and organisations who make a substantial contribution to benefiting our industry, and the Shark Bay Prawn Trawler Operator’s Association is certainly a worthy recipient of this award,” Mr Hockey concluded.