Catch rate standardisation for endeavour prawns (Metapenaeus endeavouriand M. ensis) in the Northern Prawn Fishery

摘要: There are two species of endeavour prawns harvested in the Northern Prawn Fishery (NPF): blue endeavour prawn (Metapenaeus endeavouri), and red endeavour prawn (M. ensis). The annual catch of the group (both species combined) averages 780 tonnes during the 51 years from 1970 to 2020, contributing an average of 24% total catch of the tiger prawn fishery. Endeavour prawns are generally by-product of the tiger prawn fleet and have received much less research. This report is the first study on endeavour prawn catch per unit effort (CPUE) standardisation and fishing power analysis.In this study we apply eight alternative statistical models for CPUE standardisation. These models are composed of four generalized linear models (GLM) and four generalized additive models (GAM). Each of the two techniques assumes two alternative statistical distributions: a delta-lognormal distribution and a Tweedie distribution. Moreover, two model structures are investigated: with or without including interaction terms of some predictor. A range of fishery and technology variables are explored for their potential inclusion as predictors and about 17 of those are finally adopted in these GLMs and GAMs.