NR-HQ-01-30E

Higher Quotas for Gulf Shrimp in 2001

April 9, 2001

OTTAWA – The Department of Fisheries and Oceans today announced the management plan for Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp for the 2001 season. The plan provides for a 10.9% increase in total allowable catches (TAC) for Gulf of St. Lawrence shrimp.

The TAC will be raised to 28,800 tonnes in 2001. This 2,831 tonne increase is justified by the abundant biomass and relatively low and stable exploitation rates in overall areas.

Access to the resource will be shared by traditional shrimp fleets as well as other fishermen from Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, who will continue to enjoy temporary access based on the high abundance. Catches will be divided among the four fishing areas as follows: Estuary, 786 tonnes; Sept Îles, 11,137 tonnes; Anticosti Island, 8,698 tonnes; and Esquiman Channel, 8,176 tonnes.

Traditional fishermen will harvest 83% of the TAC (23,904 tonnes) while a 17% temporary allocation (4,896 tonnes) will be granted to fishermen who have traditionally been dependent on other species. A temporary allocation of 419 tonnes will be allocated to core-group fishermen from Prince Edward Island (209.5 tonnes) and Nova Scotia (209.5 tonnes). Temporary allocations are subject to an entry threshold of 16 000 tonnes and will be terminated should the TAC fall to that level or less. Moreover, three exploratory licences will be issued to permit fishing on banks located south of the traditional shrimping areas of the Gulf.

The integrated shrimp management plan will run until 2002 and is based on three fundamental principles: resource conservation, viability of the traditional licence holders and no permanent increase in harvesting capacity.

Specific control measures will apply during the coming fishing season, including 5% coverage of fishing operations by observers at sea. Other conservation measures will also take effect. Use of the Nordmore grate remains compulsory. A protocol on by-catches of young turbot

(Greenland halibut) and their protection has been adopted as well. Furthermore, the requirement to have observers aboard vessels when moving from one fishing area to another is being maintained this year, along with dockside monitoring of all landings.

In 2000, the landed value of Gulf shrimp catches totalled $39.1 million, and the average price paid to fishermen was $1.54 per kilo.