Sustainability notes

This is an overview of how the Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp trawl  Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFA) - 9 (Anticosti), 10 (Sept Iles) and 12 (The Estuary) fishery, scored in assessment against the MSC standard. For the certifiers evaluation please download the full public certification report with detailed information on the performance of this fishery against the criteria of the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing.

The fishery scored as follows in assessment against the MSC standard for sustainable fishing. The highest possible score for each principle is 100 and a fishery must score at least 80 against each principle to get certified: 

Sustainability strengths

Some points on which the fishery scored over 90 are outlined below. 

Principle 1: the state of the fish stock

• The complete geographical range of the target species, including migration patterns, is understood, verified and updated periodically.
  
• All aspects of the life history of the species are clearly documented and understood, facilitating a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the effects of fishing.
  

Principle 2: the impact of the fishery on the marine environment

• Quantitative information is available on all non-target species affected by the fishery including their distribution, abundance and ecology.
  
• Monitoring programmes periodically verify the effectiveness of management measures to modify fishery practices when necessary. Fishing mortality is negligible if the non-target population is below the precautionary limit.
  

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• The management system has a comprehensive stock health monitoring programme. Full records are kept of monitoring results and these are made available to relevant research and management bodies. The results of monitoring efforts are compiled, analyzed, and disseminated to fishery managers such that management and research efforts can be informed as to needed improvements in a timely manner.
  
• Research conducted by the fishing industry and other organization is co-coordinated with existing research plans of the management system.
  

Challenges

In order to ensure its continuing sustainable operation this fishery made a commitment to improving its performance where it scored between 60-80. Some of the actions the fishery has committed to are:  

• Benthic fauna data, collected during research conducted by DFO in 2006 and 2007 as well as 2008 data, will be used to characterize the benthic fauna of the northern GSL, including the areas exploited by the shrimp fishery. Sediment sampling will be performed during research surveys in 2008, 2009 and 2010; these data will be used to characterize habitat patterns. Fishery statistics from the fishing fleet collected since 1982 by DFO will allow a description of the fishing effort distribution and identify areas where trawling impact could be more important. Statistical analysis will permit to relate the abundance and the diversity of the benthic fauna with perturbed areas and sediments types.