Fogo Island cold water shrimp

MSC status

Certified as sustainable in October 2011. 

The Fogo Island cold water shrimp fishery has withdrawn its certificate and joined the Canada northern and striped shrimp fishery unit of certification.

Summary

Species:  Cold Water Shrimp (Pandalus Borealis)
Location:  North west Atlantic Canadian waters. FAO 21. (SFAs) 5,6 &7
Fishing methods:  Demersal otter trawl
Vessels:  13
Number of fisheries: 1

More about shrimp

Two species of Pandalus are harvested in Canadian waters of the northwest Atlantic. P. borealis is
much more abundant and widespread in commercial quantities, and is the subject of most of the
studies and assessments of commercial pandalid shrimp in the northwest Atlantic. P

More about the fishing methods

The use of demersal otter trawls is carried out with a minimum mesh size of 40 mm and a mandatory Nordmore grate incorporated into the net which must be used in all SFAs. The dimensions of the grate spacing are between 22mm (inshore) to 28mm (offshore) depending on the area fished and the class of vessel. The Nordmore  grate has minimized the by-catch of non-target species in the shrimp fishery by  allowing larger fish to escape through an opening in the top of the net and retaining smaller shrimp in the cod-end

Fishery tonnage

Recent landings by the fleet have seen a peak catch rate of 142,748 MT in 2007, decreasing gradually since then to 86,622 MT in 2010.  

Commercial market

Cold water shrimp are sold to markets in Europe (90%) and the United States of America (10%)

Actual eligibility date

29 January 2011