This species is only commercially exploited in a few parts of its range. This is because there are large areas where there is muddy ground broken up with rocky ground and therefore not trawlable. Thus creating natural refugia. Only the emergent fraction is harvested at any one point in time, and only the high density aggregations are exploited. Furthermore, there is a responsive management regime in place, and there are fishery indepenedent surveys coming into place. (A. MacDiarmid pers. comm. 2009) However, according to the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries "There are no stock assessments or yield estimates for any scampi stock. It is not known if recent catches and current catch limits for any scampi stock are sustainable in the long term..." (NZ Ministry of Fisheries 2009).

Furthermore, trawling can indirectly affect scampi and other species through impacts on seabed habitats; it has been shown to reduce benthic biodiversity (NZ Ministry of Fisheries 2009). Small amounts of scampi may also be taken as bycatch during trawls for other species, although this is not thought to be a major threat.