Abstract-Economic return was estimated for the stock enhancement of banana prawns (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis) released in waters of the Strait of Hormuz along the coast of Hormozgan Province in Iran. Of the 4.7 million juvenile banana prawns that were cultured and released during the period of JuneJuly 2010, 50,000 were marked by injection with red fluorescent elastomer. During the fishing season in November 2010, 11 marked prawns were recovered (a recovery rate of 0.022%).The mean weight of marked prawns at release and recovery was 1.08 g (± standard deviation [SD] 0.1) and 22.06 g (SD 4.9), respectively, representing a growth rate that ranged from 0.88 to 1.41 g weeks −1 . On the basis of the number of prawns released and the recovery rate, the shrimp catch in Hormozgan in 2010 was estimated to be about 1034 released prawns with a mean weight of about 22.80 kg. The production cost for 4.7 million prawns was USD 18,800, and the local market value of landed prawns was USD 3.440 kg −1 . Therefore, the total value of the estimated 1034 landed prawns was USD 77.50, indicating a profit to production ratio of 0.0041. These results, particularly the percentage of recaptured prawns, shows that this type of release operation is not economically feasible.