Northern Shrimp

Pandalus spp.

Photo : David Orr

Northern shrimp has become an important commercial species in the Northwest Atlantic. The shrimp fishery used to have very high by-catches until NAFO introduced obligatory sorting grids in the mid-nineties which greatly reduced the by-catches from shrimp trawls. NAFO manages stocks, in 3L, 3M, and 3NO.

*The following information is a stock assessment provided by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization:
www.nafo.ca/fisheries/frames/fishery.html

Fishery Status 2008: Moratorium for 3NO stocks (no directed fishery). Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 25,000 metric tons for 3L stock in 2008. Sorting grates should be mandatory. Area and time restrictions apply. Shrimp in 3M is managed through an Effort Allocation Scheme.

Recent Assessments (2007): For shrimp in 3M, the indices of biomass are at a relatively high level but there are indications of a decline in recruitment. There are concerns about poor recruitment and the stock seems to have poor prospects. Exploitation should not exceed 17,000-32,000 metric tons

With regard to shrimp in Division 3LNO, Scientific Council reported a stable biomass since 2001. The stock appears to be well represented by a broad range of size groups, and the stock biomass has not declined at the observed exploitation rates. Above average recuitment in 2004 is expected to be in the fishery during 2007 and 2008. Scientific Council recommended that a TAC of 25,000 metric tons be maintained in order to allow time to monitor the impact of the fishery upon the shrimp stock in division 3LNO.

*Information provided by NAFO.