Northern Bonaparte Area
Fact Sheet [PDF]
Description
Commercial fishing is an important economic activity in the area, with the aquaculture industry accounting for more than half of the fish industry workforce. There are several small-scale Indigenous 'fish-pond' operations, and pockets of pearling activity scattered along the Region's coastline. Fishing employment in the Region is characterised by daily commuting to fish farms or aquatic centres, or fly-in and fly-out roster systems for those working in more isolated areas.
Major commercial fisheries in the area include: the Northern Prawn (trawl) Fishery; mud crab trap fishery; barramundi net fishery; mackerel line fishery; and a variety of tropical finfish fisheries utilising trap, line, net and trawl methods. All fisheries are managed by Northern Territory, accept for the Northern Prawn Fishery managed by the Australian Government.
Finfish traps, Darwin (J. Larcombe, 2005)
Socio-economic characteristics
This area covers Metropolitan Darwin as well as encompassing Bathurst and Melville Islands, several Aboriginal Land Trust areas in both the Northern Territory and Western Australian portions and vast desert areas. Due to the swampy nature of the coastal terrain, outside of the Metropolitan areas there are few coastal towns that account for only a small share of the area's population.
The distinctive socio-demographic composition of the area reflects the youthful age structure of Indigenous populations residing within Aboriginal Land Trust areas, the large number of defence personnel near Darwin, and the mining and agriculture related activities in the Ord River district. A predominant feature of the area is the variation in key socio-demographic characteristics across the Indigenous, Metropolitan and remote coastal areas. Lower median age and greater socio-economic disadvantage was evident in Indigenous areas. The degree of socio-economic disadvantage also increased with distance from Darwin, and larger proportions of high-income households were almost exclusively located around Metropolitan areas. Total dependency was greater in the more remote parts of the area and in the scattered Indigenous coastal towns where employment is heavily dependent on Community Development Employment Project (CDEP) schemes.
The area has a population of approximately 68,800 persons of whom 70% resided within the coastal Metropolitan portion of the area. Between 1996 and 2001 population growth was strong across most parts of the area, in part driven by increasing numbers of defence personnel and employment in resource-based industries.
Maps and Analysis
| Social Profile of the Northern Bonaparte Marine Area | ||
| Northern Bonaparte Area: Employment in the consolidated fish industry, commercial fishing GVP and fishing methods | GIF | |
| Northern Bonaparte Area: Recreational fishing catch and catch composition | GIF | |
| North Eastern Australia: Indigenous Fishing Catch and catch composition | GIF | |
| Northern Bonaparte Area SLA and UCL | GIF | |
| Mapper: Australian Government Northern Prawn Fishery, GVP, 2002 | ||
| Mapper: Northern Territory mud crab trap fishery, catch, 2002 | ||
| Mapper: Northern Territory barramundi net fishery, catch, 2002 |
