It looks as though the Northern shrimp fishery off Newfoundland’s northeast coast will soon be receiving another quota cut.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans held a technical briefing recently regarding the 2018 Northern shrimp stock assessment and as was the trend over the last decade, the news was not good — particularly in the beleaguered shrimp fishing area (SFA) 6. SFA 6 is where the majority of the inshore shrimp fishery takes place.
DFO scientists announced that in the all-important SFA 6, the fishable 2017 biomass has declined to 87,300 tonnes from 104,000 tonnes in 2016. In comparison, the 2006 biomass was 785,000 tonnes.
This continued decrease means SFA 6 biomass will stay within the critical zone — with a DFO recommended harvest or exploitation rate of only 10 per cent, with a possible TAC (total allowable catch) of 8,730 tonnes.
Last year, DFO announced a 63 per cent cut to the inshore Northern shrimp quota in SFA 6 — meaning the total allowable catch for SFA 6 went from 48,196 tonnes in 2015 to 27,825 tonnes in 2016, to 10,400 tonnes for 2017. That amounted to a 78 per cent quota reduction over two years.
DFO science also released the biomass totals for SFA 4 and 5 — results far more encouraging than in area 6.
In SFA 5, the fishable biomass has increased by 31 per cent, to 140,000 tonnes in 2017, up from 110,000 tonnes in 2016.
However, in the more northerly SFA 4, the 2017 fishable biomass was down 13 per cent to 82,700 tonnes from the 2016 total of 95,300 tonnes.
DFO said that 19.4 per cent of the 2017 biomass was taken in SFA 4 and 20.6 per cent in SFA 5.
Fisheries management was scheduled to hold the Northern Shrimp Advisory meeting on March 7, 2018. DFO science advice is presented and discussed with industry stakeholders and indigenous groups at this meeting.
The stock assessment advice, along with recommendations from DFO fisheries management and input from industry will be considered by the minister in developing future TAC and other management actions.
Reaction to the SFA 6 biomass update was one of alarm in the inshore sector.
The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW-Unifor) immediately called on DFO to re-evaluate the reference points used to establish the stock status of Northern shrimp in SFA 6.
“Currently, DFO science sets reference points based on the average spawning stock biomass from 1996 to 2003, a time when shrimp predators such as Northern cod were at an all-time low. A rebuilding plan based on this reference period means Northern shrimp will likely not recover out of the critical zone, irrespective of any fishing pressure. FFAW-Unifor representatives and fish harvesters participated in a technical briefing of the upcoming Northern Shrimp Stock Assessment. DFO science officials reviewed stock status and indicated that shrimp levels are currently comparable to what they were pre-groundfish collapse in the 80s and 90s,” the union stated in a press release.
“This Northern shrimp assessment paints a picture of an ecosystem in transition, not simply the decline of a stock. It is crucial that DFO incorporate pre-1996 biomass levels in the management of Northern shrimp,” said Keith Sullivan, President of FFAW-Unifor.
“Re-evaluating the reference points would help to stabilize this fishery and avoid further economic hardship in rural Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Approximately 3,000 people are directly employed in the inshore shrimp fishery, which together with its spinoffs, contributed $250 million to the provincial economy in 2015. The FFAW noted that in 2015, shrimp income made up greater than half of the total harvesting income for more than 75 per cent of shrimp harvesters — combined with declining crab stocks and few other fisheries to fall back on, these cuts are having a significant impact on the economic livelihood of thousands of people in the province.
In addition to calling for changes to Northern shrimp management, the FFAW-Unifor also called for the minister to remove offshore trawlers from SFA 6. “The offshore fleet, which also has access to areas 4 and 5 that are currently considered in the healthy zone, should not be permitted to exploit the only area inshore harvesters have access to. Unless the Department re-considers their approach, given the current status of the stock, harvesters will expect to see another cut to shrimp quotas again this year. A well-managed transition from shellfish to groundfish is critical to the economic well-being of our coastal communities,” added Sullivan.
This sentiment was also put forward by the FFAW’s rival union, the Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL).
The upstart labour organization also called for an immediate halt to the fishing of Northern shrimp by factory-freezer trawlers in waters off Newfoundland’s northeast coast and southern Labrador until stocks rebound.
But FISH-NL took things a step further when it demanded that DFO assign a quota of Northern shrimp to the inshore fleet further north off Labrador in SFA 5.
“Priority must be given to the inshore harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador — the economic pillars of our rural communities who are adjacent to the Northern shrimp resource,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL, reiterating a similar call he made in 2017. “Inshore harvesters have been absolutely devastated by cuts to shrimp quotas, and yet another cut will push many over the financial edge. It’s clear there’s only room for the inshore fleet in that area.”
The bulk of the shrimp quota in SFA 6 — 69.9 per cent — is reserved for the inshore fleet and 23.1 per cent for the offshore. The rest goes to St. Anthony Basin Resources Inc. (4.5 per cent), the Innu Nation (1.7 per cent), and Fogo Island Co-op (1.1 per cent).
“Factory-freezer trawlers fish shrimp in Area 6 in the winter, with the inshore fleet fishing in the summer so that the Northern shrimp stock never gets a break,” says Cleary. “It’s clear the offshore must go, with priority given to the inshore.”
“With the little bit of shrimp resource we have left, there’s only enough room in SFA 6 for one fleet,” said Boyd Lavers, captain of FISH-NL’s over 40-foot fleet. “As far as I’m concerned, the offshore has to go for the inshore to survive and the inshore must be given some access further north in Area 5.”
