The plan is to target the smaller but lucrative US-Asian market and high-end restaurants, which prefer the head of the shrimp on, because any additional processing costs would make Far North Queensland shrimps too expensive.

 

Five hundred kilogrammes of banana, tiger and endeavour shrimps left Cairns, Queensland yesterday (June 23) and if US accepts, it could inject USS$4.1 million (US$3.57 million) into the struggling shrimping fleet.

 

North Queensland Trawlers manager Marshall Betzel said a Los Angeles-based wholesaler had already tested the market with Southern Ocean king shrimps, with heads on from Hervey Bay, and wanted Far North Queensland shrimps.

 

He said markets on the US east coast would be tested to see if consumers wanted Queensland shrimps with the heads on.

 

"At this stage, we are going to see if we can sell them with the heads on," he said.

 

"Because the minute we start knocking off the heads, it would take away our competitive advantage." The Far North Queensland industry has been struggling under the weight of a high Australian dollar, which has killed off export markets, and a shrimp glut caused by a flood of export product on the domestic market.

 

Access to the lucrative US market, which was won after four years of negotiations between the US and Australian industry, has raised hopes of better prices.

 

Trawler owner Rob Giddins said yesterday (June 23) that the collapse of the export market had pushed prices down to US$11 per kg, which was below the cost of production, and the US market could provide a bonus.

 

"We are not even going to try and compete in the headless market," Giddins said.