MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM 459 ASPECTS OF THE BIOLOGY OF ment pattern it is difficull to sel an optimal seasonal closure COMMERCIAL PENAEID PRAWNS IN period. As the fishing fleet is highly mobile, a difference in TORRES STRAIT closure timing (o thal in other areas could result in an extreme The Torres Strait Project, which is funded by the Queens- 8pulse fishing9 effect that may negate any beneficial effect of land stale government, was initiated in July 1985 to investi- the closure. gale the movement and distribution of the commercial prawn Industry believes that the seasonal closure in Torres Strait Species in Torres Strait and lo assess seasonal and area opened (oo late this year thus missing the main recruitment closures to ensure thal they are being applied in the most into the fishery. Catches have been much lower than usual effective way. The findings of the research project are of this year. Brown tiger prawns tagged in a closed area to the international importance as the Torres Strait prawn fishery is west of the fishery, moved to the eastern side of the fishery jointly fished and managed by Australia and Papua New before being recaptured. This indicates that the season may Guinea. have opened later than the optimal time to harvest that Data from monthly otter and beam traw! samples taken particular pulse of recruiting prawns. between January 1986 and December 1989, and prawn lag- Data indicate that areas with high densities of undersized ging, are being used to investigate the life cycles of the brown prawns are restricted to the western side of the fishery so an liger (P. esculentus), endeavour (M. endeavouri) and red spol extension of the area closures may be a more appropriate king (P. longistylus) prawns in Torres Strait, Due to tidal management strategy than a total area seasonal closure. The constraints in Torres Strait it was necessary to Use a daytime whole system of area and seasonal closures for both Torres water jet beam trawl to sample the seagrass nursery areas on Strait and the east Queensland Coast are currently being the Warrior Reefs. reviewed at meetings involving representatives of industry, An unusual feature of the Torres Strait prawn fishery is management and research. that the juvenile seagrass nurseries are located on coral reef Future research will be aimed at inyestigating spawning platforms (mainly the Warrior Reefs) rather than coastal and recruitment patterns of endeavour and red spot king estuarine mud-flats. prawns and using fisheries simulation models to assess Data indicate that brown tiger prawns move off the sea- various closure strategies for the Torres Strait fishery, prass nurseries on the Warrior Reefs into the shallow silty The findings of the first three years of the project are waters to the west oft he reefs, ata very small size, then grow detailed ina ODPI Information Series publication, 0190018, and migrate from the closed area west of the Warrior Reefs, titled 8Torres Strait Prawn Project: A Review of research eastward into the fishery. 1986-88", Editor J.B. Mellors. Spawning in brown tiger prawns in Torres Strait occurs year round with three distinct peaks of activity that vary C.T. Turnbull, Fisheries Branch, Queensland considerably in intensity and duration between years. The yearly spawning pattern produces a series of age classes Department of Primary Industries, Northern within each year that results in a complex pattern of recruit- Fisheries Centre, Box 5396 Cairns Mail Centre, ment into the fishery. Due to the complexity of the recruit- Cairns, Queensland 4871, Australia.