SFA 4 Makes a Strong Showing in 2022, But DFO Lacks a Full Picture
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) Northern shrimp stock assessment for 2022 was only able to focus on shrimp fishing area (SFA) 4, but found the stocks there to be healthy.
“DFO has focused its effort on the comparative fishing. That was necessary to ensure continuity of the time series, so there was no survey for SFA 5 and 6,” said Northern shrimp lead Nicolas Le Corre.
Within SFA 4, the shrimp was deemed to be in the “healthy zone” in the precautionary approach ...
Fishermen Disappointed with 2021 Northern Shrimp TAC
The 2021 fishery in Northeastern Newfoundland’s shrimp fishing area 6 (SFA 6) — the only area where most harvesters have access — continues to frustrate harvesters.
The FFAW-Unifor said its members are disappointed with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ (DFO) 2021 decision on the total allowable catch (TAC) for Northern shrimp in SFA 6.
“The Northern shrimp stock in SFA 6 has shown strong signs of growth in the past two years, with the stock growing by more than 40 per ...
2021 Northern Shrimp Price Drops to $1/Pound
While snow crab harvesters reap the rewards of record-setting prices this year, the same can’t be said for the struggling Northern shrimp fishery.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Standing Fish Price-Setting Panel recently announced that fishermen will be receiving $1/pound this year for their shrimp.
The Fish Food and Allied Workers’ union (FFAW) had proposed a price of $1.50/pound to the Panel, but instead it chose the price offered by the Association of Seafood Producers (ASP).
The ...
Overall Northern Shrimp Stock Showing Signs of Life
The Northern shrimp stock off Newfoundland’s northeast coast appears to be holding its own, including the all-important shrimp fishing area (SFA) 6.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) held a technical briefing recently regarding the 2021 Northern shrimp stock assessment and reported that the SFA 6 spawning stock and fishable biomasses increased slightly between 2019–20.
SFA 6 is where the majority of the inshore N.L. shrimp fishery takes place.
DFO said that SFA 6 remains ...
Quin-Sea and Clearwater Announce St. Anthony Joint Venture Approval
Quin-Sea Fisheries Ltd., a division of Royal Greenland, and Clearwater Seafoods recently announced the application to transfer the processing license for a St. Anthony fish plant has now been approved by the Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture.
This allows the companies to move forward with the deal, in which Quin-Sea Fisheries Ltd. will assume management responsibility for the plant on behalf of the new joint venture, St. Anthony Seafoods Ltd.
“The ...
2020 Northern Shrimp Price Takes a Further Reduction
Price Panel Reconsideration Leads to an 8.5 Per Cent Hit
The soap opera that is the 2020 Newfoundland and Labrador Northern shrimp fishery continues to be played out on wharves and fish plants across the province.
On July 2, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Standing Fish Price Setting Panel accepted the Fish Food and Allied Workers’ (FFAW-Unifor) price recommendation of $1.18/pound for Northern shrimp landed at the plant and $1.15/pound for trucked shrimp.
Despite siding with the union, ...
2020 Northern Shrimp Prices Take a Major Hit
Despite Newfoundland and Labrador’s Standing Fish Price Setting Panel siding with the price put forth by harvesters this year, the 2020 season will still be a challenging one.
The panel recently accepted the Fish Food and Allied Workers’ (FFAW-Unifor) price recommendation of $1.18/pound for Northern shrimp landed at the plant and $1.15/pound for trucked shrimp.
Last year, fishermen were paid a minimum price of $1.78/pound. At the time, it represented an 18 per cent increase over the ...
2020 Northern Shrimp Quotas Taking a Hit
The 2020 total allowable catches (TAC) for Northern shrimp off Newfoundland’s northeast coast have all been reduced.
The reductions did not come as a surprise to those involved in the fishery. After a hint of promise last year in the Northern shrimp fishery off Newfoundland’s northeast coast, it seems the stock has dropped yet again — particularly in the all-important shrimp fishing area (SFA) 6.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) held a technical briefing in February ...
N.L. Inshore Northern Shrimp Quota Holding Its Own
After years of drastic cuts, this year’s much anticipated inshore Northern shrimp quota in fishing area 6 (SFA 6) was quietly announced without much fanfare and the news was actually positive.
Not only did inshore fishermen hang on to their quota levels from 2018, but there was a slight bump.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) recently announced that the total allowable catch (TAC) in SFA 6 will be increased by 2.6 per cent to 8,960 tonnes to maintain a 10 per cent exploitat...
Making Do With Less
Canada’s capture fishing industry is facing a very serious crisis, due to decreasing landings and a shrinking workforce.
Some aspects of that crisis are already apparent, but others will become increasingly obvious as time passes. We need to be thinking about how to deal with it.
In 1990, fish landings in Canada totaled 1,598,281 metric tonnes. In 2016, they were 831,980 tonnes, just 52.1 per cent of the 1990 total.
Fisheries on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts suffered drastic ...
