Northern Shrimp

Second to the brown shrimp, the northern shrimp is commercially one of the most important type of caridean shrimp in the North Atlantic. In 2016, the global capture production for northern shrimp totaled 241,016 tons with a peak in 2004 at 446,909 tons. There are major fisheries in several regions:

• Canada (Nova Scotia, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, Davis Strait)
• US (Gulf of Maine, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Washington)
• Greenland
• Iceland
• Norwegian coast
• Russia (Kamchatka Peninsula)

Northern shrimp on the US West Coast are caught in Alaska and the Northeast Pacific using beam trawls. Although there are no reference points, fishing mortality has declined due to market conditions as opposed to declining stock status. A number of measures are used to manage the stock:

• Limited entry fishery
• Gear restrictions including minimum mesh and webbing sizes
• Minimum sizes
• Minimum count per pound
• Guideline Harvest Ranges limits

The US Atlantic Northern shrimp stock in particular has collapsed, and stock size has remained at unprecedented lows for years. There has been a fishing moratorium in place since 2014 and was extended in 2018 until 2021. The bulk of the harvest came from Maine. Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts cooperatively manage northern shrimp under the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Northern Shrimp. Abundance is primarily monitored by the joint State-Federal summer shrimp survey, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Technical Committee provides annual stock assessments to fishery managers. The following limits make up the fishery management plan framework:

• Annual catch limits
• Seasonal closures when a percentage of the catch limit is projected to be caught
• Limits on the amount harvested per fishing trip
• Limits on the number of set traps during a season
• Certain closed days out of the fishery to slow catch rates and prolong the season
• Minimum trawl net mesh size to prevent undersized shrimp bycatch
• Finfish excluder devices to reduce bycatch
• Annual adjustments of management measures based on annual stock assessments and stakeholder input
• Required use of a double-Nordmore grate or compound grate system to minimize catch of small male shrimp
• Strong reporting requirements for catch and landings

Recruitment depends on factors such as ocean temperatures and spawning biomass. Increasing temperatures create inhospitable environments for northern shrimp. An increase in predators may also contribute to its stock decline.

In Canada, northern shrimp are caught using bottom trawls in British Columbia and with traps in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia on a smaller scale. The DFO manages the pink shrimp and northern shrimp as one stock, under “pink shrimp.” In Nova Scotia, the stock is not currently overfished or subject to overfishing. TAC is revised annually based on stock size, environmental conditions, and biological indicators. Bycatch in the fishery is negligible due to the design of the traps. Any incidental catch, usually snow crabs who prey on northern shrimp, are caught, but are released into the ocean alive. The current management plan for this stock is precautionary and works to ensure proper monitoring and long-term sustainability, involving several stakeholders.