The Oregon pink shrimp fishery was the world's first shrimp fishery to be independently certified as sustainable in December 2007.

The Oregon pink shrimp fishery is a commercial trawl fishery conducted seasonally (April -October) in state and federal waters off Washington, Oregon and California. Fished from the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean, the shrimp are harvested using the most advanced trawl methods. Following short at-sea trips and immediate on-board icing, the shrimp are delivered to shore for cooking, peeling, and freezing.

“This is an important accomplishment for our fishermen who harvest Oregon pink shrimp, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who manage this fishery. Although we produce just two percent of the world’s coldwater shrimp supply, Oregon is leading the way for other shrimp fisheries and providing a best case example of how to run and manage a sustainable fishery.”

Brad Pettinger
Director, Oregon Trawl Commission

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

Principle 1: the state of the fish stock

• The shrimps are readily identified and the life history well understood. Age, sex, growth and maturity are well documented and monitored. Fishery impacts on growth, sex and age composition have been studied and there is no evidence of overfishing.
• Mesh selectivity is studied extensively. Shrimp size at a given age varies geographically – larger shrimp are found at the southern part of their range and smaller shrimp to the north. Mesh size is adjusted accordingly along the coast for the different sizes of shrimp.

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

• Fish excluders are used in the fishery and this minimizes potential ecological impacts on non-target species.

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• The management system provides for one of the best mandatory systems for minimising by-catch and mortality of non-target species. The ocean shrimp fishery of the Pacific coast is one of the cleanest shrimp fisheries in the world due to the implementation of mandatory fish exclusion devices or by-catch reduction devices (BRDs) in Washington, Oregon and California.

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: 

• Within one year, the client must document the main elements of the ecosystem affected by the fishery. Within two years the client must have completed a study (including a report) that will provide inferences into understanding of the type and magnitude of effects that shrimp trawling has on the main ecosystem elements. Based on the results of the research, a report should provide a convincing scenario of how the ecosystem would likely recover if there are significant fishery related impacts.
• Prior to the first annual surveillance audit, the client must prove that the management system estimates all commercial catches, landings and by-catch and annually assesses the status of the stock.

The fishery: Unit of certification

The certified Oregon pink shrimp fishery is defined as:

Surveillance audits: First certification period 2007-2012

Surveillance 4

Stakeholder Notification: Surveillance visit scheduled - 8 December 2011

Variation response: Revised timeline - 18 October 2011

Variation request: Revised timeline - 18 October 2011

Variation response: 4th Surveillance audit - 18 October 2011

Initial assessment: Certified December 2007

Certificates: Compliance with the MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable fishing

Certificate of compliance MML-F-089 - Valid 18th November 2010 to 5th December 2012

Stage 7: Objections procedure/public certification report and certificate issue

Stakeholder Notification: Site visits scheduled - 8 December 2011

Stage 2: Building the Assessment Tree

Stakeholder Notification: Use of the default assessment tree with the Risk Based Framework (RBF) - 17 November 2011

Stage 1: Fishery Announcement and Assessment Team Formation

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team confirmation - 15 November 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team nominated - 20 October 2011

• Curriculum Vitae: Amanda Park

• Curriculum Vitae: Don Parsons

• Curriculum Vitae: Mark Pedersen

• Curriculum Vitae: Susan Hanna

Stakeholder Notification: Fishery enters full reassessment - 20 October 2011

Assessment Timeline - 20 October 2011

Oregon Trawl Commission

16289 Hwy 101 S. Suite C
Brookings, OR  97415
USA  
Tel. +1 (503) 469.7830

Contact: Brad Pettinger
bpettinger@ortrawl.net

Certification Body

Intertek Moody Marine

99 Wyse Road, Suite 815
Dartmouth, NS
B3A 4S5

Contact: Amanda Park
E-mail: amanda.park@intertek.com
Fax: (902) 422-9780

Certified as sustainable in December 2007 and entered full reassessment in October 2011

Summary

Species:  Oregon pink shrimp (Pandalus jordani)
Location:  Off the Oregon coast (west coast of the US)
Fishing methods:  Otter trawl by vessles up to 85 feet in length
Vessels:  About 40 vessels
Number of fisheries:  1

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Show your customers how the fish is caught – download and display this case study from our Net Benefits report.
Download Fishers' stories - Net Benefits 2009 - Oregon pink shrimp(PDF, 200kb)

More about pink shrimp

Pink shrimps are protandrous hermaphrodites – animals that undergo a change of sex, starting out as males and then becoming females in the final years of their lives. They may reach 5.5 inches in total length but the average catch size is about 4 inches.

More about the fishing methods

Otter trawling derives its name from the "trawl doors" or "otters" which are used to keep the mouth of the net open. As these are towed along the seabed, hydrodynamic pressure pushes them outwards, preventing the mouth of the net closing. Mandatory by-catch reduction devices are used with the gear.

Fishery tonnage

11,570 metric tonnes was landed in 2008

Commercial market

Shrimp are sold primarily into US west coast retail and food service markets. Some product is exported.