The global aquaculture of marine prawns is currently worth more than USⁱ$12B (FAO, 2007).  However, industry growth is significantly affected by infectious diseases, with bacteria being the main causative agent.  In Australia, antibiotics are still used as a method of control for these bacterial infections. However, antibiotic resistant strains are fast becoming a reality and a ban on the use of antibiotics in prawn hatcheries by a number of importing countries has highlighted the need for an alternative method. 

James Cook University researchers have been investigating bacteriophages to combat this problem. By isolating and trialling this group of viruses that infect bacteria, the researchers have identified a number of bacteriophages with the potential to control outbreaks of common bacterial strains in Australian prawn and fish hatcheries. 

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