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Norway North East Arctic cold water prawn

MSC status

Certified as sustainable in March 2012. 

Summary

Species:  Pink shrimp, deepwater prawn, deep-sea prawn, great northern prawn, crevette nordique and northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis)
Location:  Barents Sea and Svalbard in FAO statistical area 27, ICES I and II.
Fishing methods:  Trawl
Number of fisheries: 1

More about Northern shrimp

The North East Arctic cold water prawn, Pandalus borealis, is a protandric hermaphrodite. They mature first as males but, after about 3 to 4 years they change sex and complete their lives as females. Shrimp spawn in autumn, and females carry their eggs until spring when the larvae hatch. The main fishery occurs outside the period when females are carrying eggs, which potentially reduces the impact of exploitation on recruitment.Within a period of approximately 2 months, the shrimp larvae settle to the bottom.
Numerous fish and marine mammal species prey on northern shrimp and predation mortality is thought to be an important factor in northern shrimp stock dynamics. Shrimp feed both on the ocean floor and in the water column. Therefore, their diet includes both benthic and pelagic organisms.
They are distributed throughout the Barents Sea and in the Svalbard Fishery Protection Zone (ICES Sub-areas I and II). Small and medium-sized shrimp (mostly males) predominate in southern and eastern areas in depths of 200 – 350 m while larger individuals (mostly females) occur in northern and western regions in depths of 350 -500 m.

More about the fishing methods

Shrimp is caught by small-mesh trawl gear with a minimum stretched mesh size of 35 mm. All trawls are equipped with obligatory sorting grids, which stream by-catch of fish out of the shrimp trawl, allowing maximum reduction of by-catch of juvenile fish.
Most of the fishing vessels use double trawling, only 3 vessels use triple trawling and none use single trawling. The length of towing is around 4-5 hours, with approximately 10 t of shrimp being taken in 1 tow. Longer towing is not recommended due to quality considerations. Offshore vessels can catch up to 300-400 t of shrimp per trip, which usually last for 4-5 weeks. Smaller coastal vessels land catches daily and deliver shrimp on ice in plastic boxes.
The fishery takes place at 250 – 400 m depth in the Barents Sea. The deepest fishing ground is around 800 m. According to fishermen, shrimp can be found almost everywhere, though not always in the same volumes.

Fishery tonnage

17,102 tonnes in 2009

Commercial market

The main markets are in the EU prominently in Sweden, Great Britain, Denmark, Finland, Italy and France.

Actual eligibility date

29 May 2011

 

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