Tag Archives: Northern shrimp
Comeback season for Maine shrimp was kind of … shrimpy
Maine shrimp, also known as Northern shrimp, is small, pink, sweet, delicate — and some say delicious enough to eat raw. But raw or cooked, it’s not really been available in recent years. That’s because warming waters and low biomass have meant the fishery has been shut down for over a decade. But people were hopeful that a limited catch survey this winter would reveal the shrimp had recovered a little, and that some would even hit markets for customers eager to get some. But that didn’t happen. “This is my trap, I’m just finishing,” said Gary Libby, a commercial fisherman who works on his lobster gear in his workshop in Port Clyde, Maine. “These are my buoys. I painted them earlier, they’re pink and green. These ones here show up good from a distance.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:36
Big day for little shrimp: NL fish union hopes positive update on northern shrimp stock status translates into good news for fishery
The latest stock assessment for northern shrimp, which used a revised approach to project the health of the species off the Newfoundland and Labrador coast, is being welcomed by the union that represents the provinces inshore harvesters and plant workers. In a technical briefing on Wednesday, March 19, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) officially projected northern shrimp will be in the healthy zone, in accordance to the department’s precautionary approach to species management. For the latest assessment, DFO combined six fishing areas all along the eastern coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, collapsing them into two stock assessment regions divided by the boundary between Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Divisions 2H and 2J. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:12
Harvesters Applaud Long-Overdue Changes to Northern Shrimp Assessment; New Model Moves Species into Healthy Zone
FFAW-Unifor welcomes the updated Northern Shrimp assessment model, which officially shifts the species into the healthy zone under revised stock areas, assessment model and reference points. FFAW scientist Dr. Erin Carruthers participated in the assessment process, along with shrimp harvesters Chris Rose and Heather Starkes, who praised the innovative and collaborative approach to align the assessment process with ecosystem realities. “This is a long overdue recognition of the ecological realities in Newfoundland and Labrador marine ecosystems. We appreciate the considerable efforts to solve this long-standing issue and the commitment of shrimp harvesters and Dr. Erin Carruthers, to see this effort through to the end,” says FFAW-Unifor President Dwan Street, adding that, “the next step, of course, is to ensure inshore fleets’ access and allocations reflect the change in stock status.” more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:29
The American lobster’s baby bust
The Gulf of Maine is home to one of the most valuable fisheries in the United States. Every year, American lobsters (Homarus americanus) from the gulf fuel a multibillion-dollar industry, buoying fishing communities across New England and across the border into Atlantic Canada. The Gulf of Maine is also heating up faster than almost any other marine environment on Earth. In the gulf, rising water temperatures and shifting currents have already triggered shocking declines in other mainstay catches, such as northern shrimp, and put surprising new species in fish traps. Now, ongoing research led by Joshua Carloni, a marine biologist with the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, shows a potentially dire situation brewing for the area’s most valuable species—the lobster. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:36
Public Hearings on ASMFC Northern Shrimp Draft Amendment 4
Hello Northern Shrimp Stakeholders. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section approved for public comment Draft Amendment 4 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp. The Draft Amendment considers options for setting multi-year moratoria and implementing management triggers. Management trigger options include biologic and environmental triggers comprised of indicators that would signal improvement in stock conditions and the potential to re-open the fishery. There are three public hearings scheduled for Maine stakeholders. info, links, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 13:46
Volunteer Commercial Vessels Sought for Northern Shrimp Trawling and Trapping Research Sampling
The New Hampshire Fish (NHFG) and Game Department and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) are seeking one shrimp-trawling vessel and captain and one shrimp-trapping vessel and captain to participate in a winter sampling research program for northern shrimp in early 2025. This program will not receive funding from ASMFC or participating states, and participation in the program will be entirely self-funded by industry participants. The selected vessel(s) will be allowed to land and sell northern shrimp, subject to daily catch limits and a total of 26.5 metric tons region-wide research set-aside (RSA) limit. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:04
Moratorium on fishing Maine shrimp to continue through 2025
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section is maintaining the current moratorium on northern shrimp fishing through the 2025 fishing year. That makes 11 years of no commercial shrimp fishing in Maine. That action followed the 2024 Stock Assessment Update, “which indicates the northern shrimp stock has been at low levels of biomass for over the past decade despite the fishery being under a moratorium since 2014,” said the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in a Dec. 13 news release. The Update found no improvement in stock status and 2023 summer survey indices of abundance, biomass, and recruitment were the lowest in the 1984-2023 time-series. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 07:32
Opinion: Policymakers in search of sound science need to listen to fishery by Jerry Leeman
Fishermen are gravely concerned that regulators are stealing our futures with baseless cuts to landing quotas. Rep. Jared Golden is taking positive steps to fix this problem. It often happens that government regulators, who lack deep knowledge of what it takes to catch fish in the Gulf of Maine, reach conclusions about the state of our fish stocks that do not match what fishermen are seeing and what we know from being on the water every day. The obvious objection whenever we raise this concern is that “anecdote is not the plural of data.” The doubters ask: Why would an individual fisherman know more than a government agency with a dataset? That’s a fair question. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:02
Closure of Eastern Seafood | The end for Matane shrimp?
A few days before the start of the fishing season, the oldest shrimp processing plant in Quebec closes its doors. The Danish company Royal Greenland announced on Monday that it was closing down the Eastern Seafood processing plant. The mayor of Matane, Eddy Métivier, speaks of “a total surprise” as the Danish company had recently invested millions to add lobster and crab processing to its activities, in addition to building 71 housing units for its temporary workers. “We are in shock, it’s really a hard blow,” he said in an interview. It is a symbol for Matane. It’s like putting an end to historical fishing traditions. In this sense, too, it is a mourning. more, >>clicck to read<< 14:29
Warming waters send Gaspé’s northern shrimp stock plummeting, spelling trouble for Quebec fishermen
Every year, Fourchette Bleue, which promotes what it calls “under-exploited” marine species in the St. Lawrence for consumption, releases a list of recommended sustainable seafood products for consumers. Toad crabs, oysters and green sea urchins all made the cut this year, but for the first time, the northern shrimp did not. That’s because stocks of the shrimp have taken a major dive in recent years, causing concern in the local fishing industry as Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) floats the idea of potentially closing fisheries in the near future. more, >>click to read<< 07:28
Scotian Shelf shrimp fishery braces for another cut
For a third straight year, the shrimp fishery off eastern Nova Scotia is facing a big quota cut with ocean conditions to blame. The recent scientific assessment for northern shrimp on the eastern Scotian Shelf showed environmental factors — including warmer ocean water due to climate change — are contributing to the poor condition of the stock, he says. And the response, he predicts, will be a reduction in the total allowable catch. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is expected to announce the 2024 shrimp quota in several weeks. more, >>click to read<< 10:59
Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government calls for moratorium on shrimp fishery in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence
Shrimp stocks in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence are on the brink of complete collapse. The ecosystem is experiencing major changes caused by climate change. Average water temperatures are at recorded highs. Shrimp landings are at historic lows. The Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government is calling for a moratorium to protect what few shrimp are left. “As Mi’gmaq, we are guided by the principle of ango’tmu’q: taking care of something in a careful manner. It would be a violation of ango’tmu’q for us to continue fishing shrimp,” said Scott Martin, Chief of the Listuguj Mi’gmaq Government. “We will not fish our quota next year, and we call on the Minister to impose a moratorium.” more, >>click to read<< 08:01
Northern Shrimp fishing: DFO proposals do not pass muster in the industry
Northern shrimp fishermen from Quebec and the Atlantic wholeheartedly reject the new precautionary approach presented by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) scientists to protect stocks. The fishing associations of Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, industrialists and DFO scientists were gathered during two days for the advisory committee which ended Wednesday in Quebec. Northern shrimp stocks in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence are not likely to improve, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. >>click to read<< 11:47
Shrimp fishing: gloomy outlook and angry fishermen
The state of northern shrimp stocks in the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence will not improve in the short and medium term and could even continue to deteriorate. It is this grim observation that Fisheries and Oceans Canada shared with the fishermen and processors gathered Tuesday in Quebec for the first day of the shrimp advisory committee of the Estuary and Gulf of Saint -Laurent. DFO biologists have clearly identified redfish predation as one of the main causes of the decline of shrimp stocks in the four fishing areas of the Estuary and Gulf. The warming of the water in the Gulf and the significant drop in oxygen levels also explain the drastic fall in northern shrimp stocks.>>click to read<<14:12
SEA-NL demands province order ‘serious,’ sweeping review of fish-price setting system
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) demands the provincial government order a “serious” and sweeping investigation into the broken fish price-setting system after last year’s token review failed to fix it. “This province’s three largest commercial fisheries — snow crab, northern shrimp, and lobster — are all in chaos this season, and two of them for the second year in a row,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “It’s obvious that last year’s lightning fast, three-month review of the price-setting system — a review that didn’t even bother to consult with inshore enterprise owners — was a token attempt at reform by a government unwilling and unprepared to act.” >click to read< 20:09
Northern shrimp fishery faces potential permanent closure
Regulators are considering a permanent closure of the northern shrimp fishery off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section met in Portland last week to discuss several issues related to the northern shrimp. There has not been a northern shrimp fishing season in the Gulf of Maine since 2013. A moratorium was placed on the fishery because the shrimp population collapsed. >click to read< 07:37
Panel Decision Opposite of Strong Market Indicators, Harvesters Outraged
Shrimp harvesters across the province are outraged by the result of the Standing Fish Price Setting Panel’s decision to set the minimum price for summer shrimp at just $0.90/lb. The decision to side with ASP’s final offer is entirely unsupported by market realities, which show distinct market improvements in recent months. “The Panel’s decision yesterday is incomprehensible. Taking into consideration the significant increase in operational costs, particularly for fuel, fish harvesters will not come close to breaking even at this insultingly low price,” says FFAW-Unifor Sullivan President Keith Sullivan. “The Panel has absolutely not justified themselves in selecting this price,” he says. >click to read press release< 19:06
How warming ocean temperatures wiped out Maine’s shrimp industry
Since 2014 fishing for northern shrimp has been banned in the United States. The stock in our area has decreased to the point where they are not reproducing. This is not due to overfishing; it is directly due to the temperature of the water. They have simply moved north to colder Canadian waters. Back in 2007, when there was a robust northern shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Maine, scientists were looking for net modifications that would catch shrimp but not have any bycatch of finfish. Since shrimp fisheries throughout the world have some of the highest bycatch of any fishery, this was a priority worldwide. At that time the Northeast Consortium at the University of New Hampshire helped fund research by Dr. Pingguo. He and David Goethel developed a trawl net, named “The Topless Trawl,” that drastically reduced bycatch in the northern shrimp fishery. >click to read< 10:21
Slashed shrimp quotas cause worries for Newfoundland and Labrador captains
A couple weeks ago Brad Genge made a million-dollar bet on the future of shrimp. He bought another shrimp licence. Now he can only hope it pays off. Genge has been fishing out of Flower’s Cove, a community on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula, with his father Ren for about three decades. This is the 16th season for their longliner, B and B Mariner. And when another captain decided to retire and sell his enterprise, Genge saw it 
as a chance to grow his own. These days the only way to get more shrimp quota is to buy it from someone willing to sell. Genge has invested heavily to secure three shrimp quotas in the Gulf, in an area near Port aux Choix, and four in the northern zone, off St. Anthony. It comes with risk, considering the shrimp biomass and the quotas have been declining. >click to read< 15:15
Minister Ignores Established Precautionary Approach for Shrimp – Slashes Quotas in Struggling Fishery
Minister Joyce Murray’s decision today to slash quotas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp fishery is a significant blow for harvesters and plant workers who have already experienced drastic cuts over the last number of years. A cut of nearly 20 per cent in Shrimp Fishing Area (SFA) 8 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is contrary to the recently established Precautionary Approach (PA), showing Minister Murray’s lack of commitment to collaborative fisheries management. >click to read< 08:58
Northern Shrimp Assessment Fails to Capture True Picture of Stock Health
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) science department delivered a technical briefing to industry this morning detailing the most recent stock assessment for northern shrimp. FFAW-Unifor continues to call on the Department to reassess the Limit Reference Point (LRP) for northern shrimp and incorporate harvesters’ observations in science assessments. “The LRP is set at a time when cod and other groundfish were at very low levels. Expecting the species to rebound to that level when the marine environment is now completely different is short-sighted. We need to consider the entire marine ecosystem when establishing rebuilding plans,” says FFAW-Unifor President Keith Sullivan. >click to read< 18:27
DFO to Release Latest Assessment of Northern Shrimp Stocks
DFO will provide an update this morning on its latest assessment of northern shrimp stocks in the waters surrounding Newfoundland and Labrador and the FFAW will be watching very closely Fisheries Union President Keith Sullivan says they’ll be interested in seeing whether the information and concerns provided by harvesters, particularly as it relates to the Sustainable Fisheries Framework are reflected in today’s announcement. >click to read< 10:27
Gulf of Maine: Shrimp fishery to remain closed for three more years
For the eighth straight year, Maine’s commercial shrimp fishery will remain closed to harvesters. The Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section voted last week to keep the fishery shut down for at least three more years citing an assessment update that indicated the stock in the Gulf of Maine remains depleted. A commercial fishing moratorium has been in place since the 2014 season,,, >click to read< 08:30
Shrimp prices set for Nfld. and Labrador, stockpiles and restaurant closures reducing shrimp demand in U.K.
A dollar a pound was not enough to lure the inshore shrimp fishing fleet in Newfoundland and Labrador to set their gear this spring. But most boats are hitting the water now, as the crucial summer shrimp fishing season opens. This week saw the price increase by 10 cents, to $1.10 a pound, for summer catches following a ruling by the province’s Fish Price Setting Panel. The U.K. and Europe are the main markets for shrimp exports from this province. >click to read< 13:54
Will fishing shrimp be worth it this year?
The price set by the Association of Seafood Producers came in at one dollar a pound Thursday, with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union pushing for a price of $1.50. Shrimp harvester Rendell Genge has been in the industry since 1970, and has seen up and down years fishing on the west coast of Newfoundland. This summer, he wonders if taking his boat out will be feasible. “There’s no way we can fish for a dollar,”,,, “We had a group meeting and 100 per cent agreed not to go fishing [unless] we do the $1.50, at least $1.50 right now.” >click to read< 19:46
Newfoundland shrimp fishermen still in limbo as fish plants remain idle
Normally, the shrimp fishing season starts by June, with fishers in this area wrapping up their season in late August and hoping not to have to fish through the bad weather months of mid to late fall. But a wrangle over shrimp prices has lasted longer than usual, thanks in part to the uncertain markets caused by Coronavirus. In mid June the province’s Price Setting Panel decided on a price of $1.18 per pound, choosing the price suggested by the Fish Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor) over the price of .70 cents per pound suggested by the Association of Seafood Processors (ASP). Meanwhile, according to the union, shrimp processors in New Brunswick and Quebec, including a Royal Greenland-owned plant, have been buying shrimp from harvesters in that province while refusing to purchase from Newfoundland and Labrador harvesters. >click to read< 07:37
2020 shrimp price disagreement for NL fish harvesters goes to arbitration
There’s 58 cents worth of disagreement over shrimp prices between the union that represents fish harvesters and the organization that represents processors in Newfoundland and Labrador. According to the union, the Association of Seafood Processors (ASP) proposed 70 cents per pound while the FFAW proposed $1.18. The matter is now before the Standing Fish Price Setting Panel, which met today in St. John’s to hear the proposals from both sides.,, The union also said, “This is a challenging year for shrimp, as the market is lower than it was last year.” However, the union also said the 70 cent offer from the ASP “is a price that cannot be justified by any rational assessment of the market.” >click to read< 16:07
Possible quota reduction on Northern Shrimp concerns Newfoundland fishers and communities
This could mean hard times in an already hard businesses, harvester Chris Rose told the Northern Pen. He is hoping to make enough this season to pay the bills. The St. Carol’s fisherman owns his own boat, with a four-member crew, and has been fishing since 1991.“Two years prior to last year I had to give my crew some of my boat’s percentage so they could get enough to qualify for EI,” Rose said. “We are down to crunching numbers that fine.” He said when he started in 1999 shrimp fishing was great, then it exploded between 2008 to 2014. It has been going steadily downhill since.“Since the peak I’ve lost 80 percent of my shrimp quota,,, >click to read< 08:42
Northern Shrimp Harvester Roland Genge questions science methodology, hoping for changes to quota rules
He’s seen the best the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery has had to offer over the past 42 years — and the worst. From buying a new boat in the 1980s, to the collapse of cod in 1992, to the rise of shrimp quotas and price, Roland Genge has taken the waves of the inshore fishery in stride. Now, the Anchor Point fisherman is concerned about last month’s shrimp assessments. “We’re going to be cut … every year on account of the way the survey is being done,” >click to read< 08:14
Cautious, healthy and critical. Northern shrimp stocks a mixed bag, suggest DFO’s latest numbers
Shrimp in fishing areas 4, 5, and 6 are assessed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans every February. On Monday, the agency said despite some uptick, “We continue to be concerned about the future of these stocks.” For shrimp fishing Area 4, the stock remains in the cautious zone. For shrimp fishing Area 5, the stock is in the healthy zone. For shrimp fishing Area 6, the stock remains in the critical zone, according to DFO’s briefing. DFO said there are several factors that could account for Area 6 retaining critical status, including above-average bottom temperatures, and more predators. >click to read< 15:31
VIDEO: DFO northern shrimp stock assessment for N.L. far from rosy – >click to read<
