Handling prawns after catch

[gamechanger]

Prawns are a lot tougher than people think. Have a look at the article below and you'll know what I mean...I've also seen prawn papers where they have tagged them up in Alaska and recovered them multiple times, there was one that was recovered 5 different times (page 5).
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/library/PDFs/afrb/kmkrv3n1.pdf

So when you think about all of the changes in pressure and light, to be able to do that multiple times, survive grow and moult is pretty encouraging. Myself I've seen some big females that have been out of the water for ~30 mins found in the bottom of a cooler come back to life by putting them underwater and moving them back and forth for a few minutes, and having them swim away.

 

[the fog ducker]

yes , off topic , i RELEASE all my females , regardless of what people think on survival
i know alot dont , my theory is , they have a much better chance of survival in the water than
on the deck , i sort them quickly and release them asap right wher i found them ,
my contribution to the future gen...

fd

 

[DuroBoat]

perhaps also a bit off topic but im trying my hand at prawning.. last weekend after 2 sets of 6 traps, sitting for 3 hrs each, we were rewarded with 150 prawns. Anything deeper than 230' resulted in ugly squat lobsters - anything shallower than 180 resulted in a few shrimp and red rock crabs. Im going to try an overnight soak this weekend but was surprised to get so few and so shallow.. I thought prawns were typically around 350'. anyone have any suggestions? I used fresh salmon heads and new prawn bait in each trap. Ill post my weekend results on Monday

 

[terrin]

perhaps also a bit off topic but im trying my hand at prawning.. last weekend after 2 sets of 6 traps, sitting for 3 hrs each, we were rewarded with 150 prawns. Anything deeper than 230' resulted in ugly squat lobsters - anything shallower than 180 resulted in a few shrimp and red rock crabs. Im going to try an overnight soak this weekend but was surprised to get so few and so shallow.. I thought prawns were typically around 350'. anyone have any suggestions? I used fresh salmon heads and new prawn bait in each trap. Ill post my weekend results on Monday

Location is a big factor even a few 100' can be a big difference. When you say 2 sets of 6 traps do you mean two strings with six traps soaking for three hours or six single traps soaking for 3hrs and back down for another 3hrs?

 

[DuroBoat]

it was six single traps soaking for 3 hrs and back down for another three. Oddly enough, location (even 10') made a big difference from zero prawns to 40 in one trap.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

We pluck their heads off asap then completely cover them in ice. When we get home we freeze them in water in plastic containers from the loonie store. This way we only thaw out a meals worth at a time. I usually freeze about 20 in each little container completely covered with water. They freeze in blocks and stay very fresh with no freezer burn when thawed out.