The recruitment and seasonal abundance of tiger prawn Penaeus monodon and white prawn Penaeus indicus seeds were studied by operating shooting net during spring high tides. The recruitment in terms of catch/hr/net was estimated for both the species. Seasonal availability of metapenaeids and predatory fish seeds were also studied, as the are treated as competitors and predators respectively.

P. monodon seed was observed from July to December and P. indicus from April to May and July to November. The season for recruitment of metapenaeid postlarvae was from July to November. The seeds of predatory fishes like Lates calcarifer, Polynemus sp., Megalops sp., Elops sp., Therapon sp. and eels were observed in the shooting net collection during July to November.

The study reveals that there is a tremendous potential for collecting commercially important penaeid prawn post larvae in and around Machilipatnam creeks which could supply to the just developing new brackish water prawn farms in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring maritime states. Gears like hand net and scoop net have proved to be best suited for the collecting of prawn post larvae and juveniles.