FEASIBILITY OF CERTIFYING THE GULF OF MAINE SHRIMP

Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) is an important fishery for the State of Maine but it is susceptible to environmentally changes and market swings, making shrimp fishers economically vulnerable. The overall goal of the research project was to evaluate the benefit and feasibility of certifying the Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery as a sustainable fishery with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). In a partnership with Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, we addressed three research tasks.
Task one aimed to document patterns of bycatch in the trap shrimp fishery. This study found that the bycatch level of all non-target species in 2010 was 1.0 percent of catch weight. We recommend an extension of this study to determine if the minimal bycatch trends observed persist in this fishery with additional years of data.
In task two, logbooks were used to examine whether the port sampling program could be streamlined by reducing the number of samples collected. We recommend maintaining the level of sampling intensity for trap gear and increasing the sampling effort for trawl gear.
The focus of the third task was to gather basic information on those participating in the fishery and learn whether there was support for MSC certification. We found overwhelming concern regarding stability of the shrimp market but at the time of the survey, there does not appear to be support for undertaking the MSC certification process.
After these initial data gaps were addressed, the northern shrimp fishery was evaluated against MSC’s principles. Based on this analysis, the likely total score for this fishery would be 71.4. A score of 80 is necessary for certification. A lack of documentation and a lack of continuous monitoring of the fisheries interaction with other species and the surrounding ecosystem were identified as the two overarching weaknesses.
We concluded that it would be feasible for this fishery to obtain a certification with MSC. However, our study found that some MSC benefits are unsubstantiated; therefore, the northern shrimp management should determine long-term objectives and evaluate alignment with MSC outcomes before considering a certification bid.