Seemingly immune to the horrendous sight, the crew sorts out the prawns from the carnage. While the endeavour (metapenaeus endeavouri), king (penaeus plebejus) and banana prawns are thrown into respective baskets, the tigers (penaeus mondon) are thrown into a drain between the sorting tables. Flowing seawater pumped from the ocean pushes the prawns to the grader, which automatically grades and drops them into assorted baskets. Tiger prawns are graded by size, and Tracy, the most senior crew member, corrects the occasional mistake made by the sorting contraption, manually probing for the odd, incorrectly placed prawn.

Ironically, Australia never gets to feast on the prime catch. The big prawns are immediately washed through a solution of metabisulphate, a preservative and parasite killer. They are then weighed, boxed in 11kg cartons and frozen on board for export to Japan by super-entrepreneurs such as Nancy Reed, a prawn merchant. I was told that she had won the Best Businesswomen of the Year Award two years consecutively in recognition of her 'achievement' in marketing. No mention was made of the awesome waste and destruction of other animals that it took for that product to be harvested. Royal and political honours are also awarded to the owner of the 15 other vessels on the Gulf. Michael Kailis, the founder of M G Kailis, is bestowed with the Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Citizen of Western Australia, the Queen's Medal and Advance Australia awards in recognition of his contribution to the business community - a contribution that wreaks havoc on the ocean environment.

A world away from awards ceremonies, the smaller prawns are quickly cooked, cooled and packed to be frozen for the local market. The entire process from sorting to freezing takes no more than 90 minutes, and there's barely enough time for a cup of coffee before Jamie calls for the next drop. The same procedure is repeated through the night until 8am. It is a tough job, but the pay is good, according to Garrick. An experienced deckhand, he gets about AUS$2,000 per month in hand, plus a generous bonus at the end of the season.

I raised the subject of the bycatch briefly with Jamie. 'Trawling is the only effective method available to harvest prawns commercially,' he says. 'We are merely satisfying demand.' So, as long as people eat prawns, the trawlers will be out there scraping the sea floor to death. Even prawn farming cannot solve the problem, because the necessary chemicals can be even more detrimental to the coastal marine environment. It destroys habitats, pollutes water, and possibly spreads diseases to wild shrimp populations. Meanwhile, Jamie, as the only owner-operator vessel against a company fleet, acts as a mediator and watchdog, making sure that the big boy is acting responsibly.

By 3.45am, I had curled up on the dinner bench, emotionally exhausted from the night's events - especially after a huge green turtle was hauled up in the sampling net. This one was lucky - she survived. Turtles are air-breathing animals, so if she had been caught in the main nets, which have a much longer trawl time, she would have drowned being dragged along the ocean floor.

All sea turtles are classed as either endangered or threatened species on the World Conservation Union's Red List. In the US, measures have been taken to protect them from trawlers. Shrimp trawling vessels are required by law to be fitted with trawling efficiency devices, also known as turtle excluder devices (TEDS), to reduce the capture of unwanted fish, invertebrates and especially sea turtles. TEDS are proven to be up to 97% effective in reducing sea turtle deaths and are capable of reducing bycatch by up to 60%. Countries that export prawns to the US are also required to use them. As a result of a directive from the US Court of International Trade, the US has banned the import of prawns from Australia.

Michael Kennedy, the Director of the Humane Society in Australia, is quoted as saying 10,000 turtles die every year as a result of the northern Australian prawn-fishing industry. The Australian Seafood Industry Council, however, claims the figure is less than 800 a year. This, they point out, is one-tenth of the number killed by the natives of Torres Strait and other northern areas. Although all turtles in Australia are protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, the law still allows Aborigines to capture turtles for consumption. Conflicting figures on turtle deaths and a double standard of cultural policies do little to help the turtle.

By 7am the crew of the Odete C. has just about completed packing and cooking prawns from the previous drop. Jamie is beaming from ear to ear, showing off his perfect teeth as he savours a freshly cooked, succulent tiger prawn. It has been the best night of the season, with more than 1,100kg in the baskets. Each carton of 11kg commands a wholesale price of US$220

Waiting for the final drop at 8am, Tracy and Tamara watch female dolphins swimming alongside the boat with their offspring. They are witnesses to the prawn trawlers' marine vandalism; the sea has turned brown from a night of devastation. I have forgone eating fish for many years, but have continued to enjoy prawns tremendously. Now I look at them in a totally different light, knowing that for every prawn I put in my mouth so many other marine animals perish.