Determining the prawn stock status of Malindi-Ungwana Bay using the Weight of Evidence Framework

Kenya's penaeid prawn fishery is one of the most economically important fisheries. Shallow water prawn fisheries are concentrated within the Malindi-Ungwana Bay, being carried out by small-scale fishers and industrial trawl vessels. The Weight of Evidence Framework (WoEF) was applied to determine the status of prawn stock in the Malindi-Ungwana Bay prawn trawl fisheries. The WoEF is a process that synthesizes individual lines or pieces of evidence to develop conclusions. For the first time, the framework has been applied to determine the sock status of shallow water prawns in Kenya. Eight pieces of evidence related to the catch per unit effort, proportions of target and bycatch, sizes of prawns, proportions of immature and mature prawns, fishing effort and distance from shore in the Malindi-Ungwana Bay industrial fishery, were assessed. The pieces of evidence were weighted and the body of evidence confronted and the possible conclusion was that the stock is maximally sustainably fished. The overall conclusion was found to be robust. This conclusion confirms the speculation over the stock status of shallow water prawns in the Malindi-Ungwana Bay.