Canada offshore northern and striped shrimp

MSC status

Certified as sustainable in June 2011.

Summary

Species: Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) and Striped shrimp (Pandalus montagui)
Location: Atlantic Canadian Waters, FAO Statistical Area 21.
The ‘Striped Shrimp Fishery’, Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFAs)  2, 3, 4.
The ‘Northern Shrimp Fishery’, Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFAs)1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Fishing methods:  Demersal otter trawl
Vessels:  13
Number of fisheries: 2

More about shimp

Two species of Pandalus are harvested in Canadian waters of the northwest Atlantic. P. borealis is
much more abundant and widespread in commercial quantities, and is the subject of most of the
studies and assessments of commercial pandalid shrimp in the northwest Atlantic. P. montagui
(striped shrimp), although widely distributed from Davis Strait to the Grand Banks, is most abundant
in more northerly areas and at shallower depths.

More about the fishing methods

The use of demersal otter trawls is carried out with a minimum mesh size of 40 mm, and are fitted with a Nordmore separator grate. Shrimp pass through the grate, but groundfish are directed upwards towards an exit window in the upper panel. The grate is mandatory in all fishing areas. In SFAs 6 and 7 the mandatory grate spacing is 22 mm. In SFAs 1 - 5 and 8 the mandatory spacing is 28 mm.

Fishery tonnage

Recent landings by the fleet are approximately 50,000- 60,000 metric tons per year.

Commercial market

The offshore focuses on the frozen-at-sea, raw and cooked shell-on product, which is marketed primarily in Russia, Ukraine, China, Japan and Western Europe.

Actual eligibility date

3rd August 2010