Our Hawkesbury seafood industries
The Hawkesbury-Nepean estuary is among the top 15 commercial fishing production areas in NSW, with annual catches worth $1.3 million. The estuary also plays a valuable role as a nursery and a source of food for ocean fish. Prawn catches may be worth up to $1.1 million per year, the second highest production area in NSW. Estuary prawn trawlers are restricted to fish in specific locations of the estuary as per an Estuary Prawn Trawl Share Management Plan.
The Hawkesbury oyster industry production has varied significantly in the last years as a result of the impact from different oyster diseases: QX disease in 2003 and Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome in 2013. Council is part of an intensive research effort to get the oyster industry back in the estuary. Currently Sydney Rock Oysters, triploid Pacific Oysters and Akoya Pearl Oysters are being cultivated in the lower Hawkesbury estuary.
Both the Oyster and Prawn Trawler industries have developed either an Environmental Management System (EMS) or an Environmental Action Plan (EAP). The Hawkesbury Trawl Association developed an EAP as the vehicle to bring together trawl operators and others within the community with an interest in tackling the issues threatening the health of the river while improving industry’s performance with regards to the environment.
On the other hand, the Broken Bay Oyster Association developed an EMS and then in 2011 signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding with Hornsby Shire Council for the protection of the estuarine environment. It is the first formalised ongoing partnership, between a local government authority and an oyster industry group, that recognises their shared goals in protecting water quality. The agreement benefits the public, the environment and the economy by protecting estuarine health and supporting an environmentally sustainable oyster industry. Both parties seek to responsibly manage estuarine resources on behalf of present and future generations.