OCI Grand Bank yellowtail flounder trawl

MSC status

Certified as sustainable on 28th October 2010.

Summary

Species:  Yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea)
Location: North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) Areas 3L, 3N and 3O (Grand Bank)
Fishing methods: Demersal trawl
Vessels: 4
Number of fisheries: 1

More about yellowtail flounder

Yellowtail flounder is a small-mouthed, right-eyed flounder belonging to the Family Pleuronectidae. They only occur in the western North Atlantic with the largest population in Canadian waters on the Grand Bank in NAFO divisions 3LNO.

Yellowtail flounder is an offshore species that lives on gravely sand, sand-shell hash or rock-sandy
sediments. They have been found in depths down to 364m on the Grand Bank but are primarily found in depths between about 35 - 95m.

Their small mouths restrict choice of food, feeding primarily on amphipods and polychaete worms but also eat smaller quantities of other crustaceans such as shrimp, cumaceans and isopods.

More about the fishing methods

The fishing method is otter trawling, which involves a cone shaped net being towed behind a fishing vessel in close proximity and/or in contact with the seabed. In the past few years the dominant type of trawl used
has been the Golden Top with a mesh size of 165mm inside mesh for the trawl and 150
– 155mm for the cod end. Fishing sensors monitor doors, catch, temperature and headline so as to
ensure that the trawl is fishing properly thus minimizing disruption due to improperly towed gear.

Strategies to avoid areas of high localized bycatches include relocating to alternate fishing locations,
using sorting grids with 10 cm spacing to exclude cod when bycatch is relatively high.

Fishery tonnage

In 2009,OCI held 13,729 tonnes of the overall quota.

Commercial market

Most product is sold in North America - 50% to the food service sector. 30% of the production from this species is sold in the fresh form and 70% in frozen form. Less than 10% of the landed quota is sold to Japan in whole round form.

Actual eligibility date

9th April 2010