Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp trawl fishery Esquiman Channel

(Formerly known as the Harmonised Area SFA 8, Canada northern prawn fishery)

MSC status

Certified as sustainable on the 30th March 2009. 

Summary

Species: Prawn (Pandalus borealis)
Location: SFA 8 (Esquiman Channel)
Fishing methods: Otter trawl
Vessels: Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland permitted vessels fishing in Shrimp Fishing Areas 8 waters, landing in Quebec, New Brunswick or Newfoundland ports.
Number of fisheries: 1

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More about northern prawn

Pandalus borealis (the candidate shrimp species also known as northern shrimp) is distributed in boreal regions throughout the Atlantic Ocean. It typically occurs in high salinity waters with temperature in the range of 0-5C on soft mud or sand/silt bottoms at depths of 50-500m. The species is found throughout the northwest Atlantic Ocean including the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the St. Lawrence River estuary, primarily at depths of 150 to 350m. P. borealis are protandric hermaphrodites, changing sex in the course of their life cycle, achieving male sexual maturity in about two and a half years, then becoming female between four and five years old. Mating takes place in autumn and the females carry their eggs for about eight months, from September until April. The larvae are pelagic, settling to the bottom in late summer. Young, immature shrimp are found predominantly in the shallower part of the species range whereas older shrimp (males and females) occur in deeper water. However, egg-bearing females concentrate in specific areas within the shallower part of the range in winter and release their larvae there in spring before dispersing to deeper waters.

More about the fishing methods

The wide distribution of prawn fishing occurs because prawn are abundant over a vast area from southern Nova Scotia to Baffin Island. Prawn trawlers work the muddy bottoms using otter trawls with a minimum mesh size of 40 mm, and fitted with a Nordmore separator grate. Prawn pass through the grate, but ground fish with swim bladders are directed upwards towards an exit triangle in the upper panel. This grate is mandatory in all the fishing areas. Fishers fit either bobbins or rubber discs to the groundrope, which is linked to the leading lower edge of the net by vertical toggle chains. The latter enable the net to ‘fly’ clear of the bottom so that flatfish disturbed by the groundrope can pass below the net entrance. This does not seem to affect the catchability of the net for prawn, which seem to be less closely associated with the seafloor.

Fishery tonnage

In 2007, the catch for northern prawn in the Esquiman Channel was 8867 tonnes

Commercial market

The inshore fleet focuses on the shell-off cooked and peeled product, which is primarily processed on land. Predominant markets are in the US and Europe.

Due to an overlap of certification assessments of the Canadian Northern Prawn Fisheries and Gulf of St Lawrence Northern Shrimp a harmonised process has been agreed between TAVEL Certification Inc. and Moody Marine Ltd., to coordinate certification activities in the Shrimp Fishing Area 8 (SFA 8).

For further information on the Canadian northern prawn fishery, please follow this link to take you to the certified fishery homepage.

For further information on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp fishery, please follow this link to take you to the certified fishery homepage.