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Science Response 2012/001

Monitoring update for Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis) and Striped Shrimp (Pandalus montagui) in the western and eastern assessment zones (SFA 2 and 3)

Context

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Resource Management (RM) requested an update of Science advice on the status of the two species of shrimp, Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis) and Striped Shrimp (P. montagui), in Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFA) 2 and 3. Previously, SFA 2 has been assessed three times (DFO 2008, 2010, 2011) and SFA 3 twice (DFO 2008, 2010). The Zonal Advisory Process (ZAP) for SFA 2-6 was on a biennial schedule until the 2010 ZAP indicated a large decline in the shrimp population in SFA 6 prompting a more frequent review and resulting in the 2011 ZAP the following year. The 2011 ZAP concluded that the status of resources in SFA 2-6 could be adequately monitored by having a full assessment biennially (odd numbered years) with updates of the key indices of the Precautionary Approach (PA) framework in intervening years as required. This update is the first in this scheduled series.

Assessments follow the framework developed in 2007 for Northern Shrimp off Labrador and the northeastern coast of Newfoundland (DFO 2007a). A series of fishery-independent surveys and fishery data form the basis of the assessment (see DFO 2011 for details). Northern and Striped Shrimp are assessed within the Western (WAZ) and Eastern Assessment Zones (EAZ) (Fig. 1) established at the last ZAP held in St. John’s, NL 15-25 February 2011 (DFO 2011).

This Science Response Report is from the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Zonal Science Special Response Process of 20 February 2012 updating the status of Northern and Striped Shrimp resources in SFAs 2-6.

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