Shrimp Cut - Up 15%,
Fishery-Down 100%

by FV Staff

Unloading Shrimp at Port Clyde, Maine. “They crucified the industry on the same cross. It was a frustrating result. The longer term danger is that the processing infrastructure and U.S. and European markets for Maine shrimp rebuilt over the last eight years will disappear,”- John Norton of Cozy Harbor ©Photo by Sam Murfitt

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Shrimp Section seemed to agree that the model they use to assess the shrimp stock needs to be revised. Members voted at a recent meeting to initiate a process to revisit the numbers they use to set the shrimp quota. But as for this year, they only agreed to raise the quota by 300 metric tons over the 2,000 mt limit they previously set. This is an insignificant amount that will add perhaps a few days to a week onto the 2012 shrimp season.

The commissioners heard directly from marine scientists Steven Cadrin and Michael Sissewine that the data used by the shrimp section should be changed to more accurate available data regarding shrimp mortality. If they did, the quota could be set as much as 4,500 mt higher without harming the resource. The industry argued in favor of raising the quota to 3,200 mt. But in the end, the commissioners only agreed to raising it by 311 mt.

Dr. Cadrin, a fishery management expert and associate professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, argues in his assessment that using peer reviewed data on natural shrimp mortality offers a significant improvement over the assessment model used by regulators and allows for a greater sustainable shrimp catch.

Dr. Michael Sissenwine, Visiting Scholar at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a preeminent fisheries scientist. Sissenwine’s report concludes the natural mortality estimate for Cadrins’ assessment “is more scientifically defensible” than the one used by the shrimp regulators. Sissenwine also concludes the more optimistic ASPIC model should be given more consideration in setting the quota.

John Norton of Cozy Harbor said, “They crucified the industry on the same cross.” It was a frustrating result. More than 100 shrimp fishermen showed up at the meeting, and the commissioners were presented with an online petition with 1,581 signatures collected in just four days. But it was not enough.