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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 3
November 2009
Northern shrimp stock looks ‘good’ for 2010
PORTLAND, ME – After years of hobbling along, the tide may have turned for Northern shrimp fishermen.
The shrimp stock is healthy. The population is made up of multiple “above-average” year classes. And the five-year-old shrimp that promise to make up the 2010 fishery should be beautiful.
But best yet, market demand, which was limp last year, seems to be firming up. While no one was ready to forecast a blockbuster, Spencer Fuller of Cozy Harbor Seafood, the largest shrimp buyer in the region, said the company was “cautiously optimistic” about being able to move more volume this year.
And that, right there, says a lot.
“We’ve spent a number of years building up the market for this product, and we’re starting to see some of the fruits of that effort,” said Fuller. “We’re dealing with a number of positive factors this year. Demand is going to be higher, and that can translate into more volume and firmer prices.”
As Commercial Fisheries News was going to press, fishery managers on the Northern Shrimp Section of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) were prepping for their annual season-setting meeting, which was scheduled for Oct. 29 in Portland.
The section’s industry advisers were lined up to meet the day beforehand to get a stock status preview and develop recommendations for the section. Many were hoping for a 180-day season like last year, and Port Clyde fishermen were advocating for a small, summer fishery to keep customers in their Community Supported Fishery (CSF) program supplied on a longer-term basis.
The section’s Northern Shrimp Technical Committee (TC) was recommending that landings during the 2010 season be capped somewhere between 4,400 metric tons (mt) and 4,900 mt – which is between 9.7 million pounds and 10.8 million pounds.
Preliminary landings last year totaled only 2,200 mt or 4.85 million pounds. Coming even close to the TC’s recommended cap for 2010 would mean landings would have to double.
Stock status
As usual, the latest stock assessment update was based on results from the annual Gloria Michelle survey, which this year took place July 12-Aug. 8. Survey crews were able to cover 49 sampling stations – more than usual – and the survey overall was deemed a “success.”
“The indices were all somewhat above average,” said TC Chair Maggie Hunter of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.
Scientists aboard the Gloria Michelle got their first look at the 2008 year class, which was welcomingly “moderate” in size.
“It’s not off-the-charts, but it’s above average,” said Hunter. “It looks like it’s going to be a good year class.”
The 2007 year class also continued to look “moderate but above average,” another good sign for the future.
In fact, the only problem spot was 2006, which, from the start, was a very weak year class.
Yet the 2005 year class – the one that’s expected to make up the bulk of this winter’s catch – is moderate in size, and scientists say that a few lingering survivors from the very strong 2004 year class might still be available to the fleet.
With the 2005 year class destined to dominate this winter’s fishery, Hunter said, “It’ll be a nice, five-year-old product with similar counts-per-pound to last year.”
Last February, when most of the catch was landed, the count-per-pound averaged 37 in Maine based on port sampling.
2009 overview
The 2009 shrimp season – the longest since 1991 – ran from Dec. 1, 2008 through May 29, 2009.
Yet the catch, at 4.85 million pounds, was less than half of what it was in 2008, when landings totaled 10.83 million pounds.
The dramatic drop in landings from 2008 to 2009, however, had nothing to do with the resource itself. Catch rates in Maine averaged 370 pounds per hour and 2,246 pounds per trip, with both indices being above average. The catch was nice, mostly comprised of large, female shrimp from the strong 2004 year class.
Rather, the problem was market driven.
“There was no market. Risk-aversion was very strong,” said Spencer Fuller. “The catch was absolutely gorgeous. It was such a shame that it came on the heels of an economic implosion.”
The disastrous economic situation, which stifled demand and led to abysmal prices, resulted in the fleet putting out far less effort.
Fishermen collectively made 1,784 trips, less than half of what they made in 2008. A total of 149 vessels participated in the fishery, with 137 of them being from Maine. Massachusetts had just one boat in the fishery, while New Hampshire had 11.
Industry members fought hard last year for a 180-day season, mostly so they could at least have a chance to attract new customers.
But as it turned out, selling opportunities completely dried up by springtime. Fishermen made only 27 trips in April and four in May.
Prices
Of the 149 boats that fished last year, 71 of them – all from Maine – caught shrimp with traps, a huge gear-shift in the fishery from the peak days in the 1990s when trawl vessels caught the vast majority of the product.
Prices in general were awful, plummeting to an unsustainable low of 27 cents per pound. Trap shrimp, however, routinely earned slightly more than the low-of-the-moment.
Fuller could not predict what the price would be for the upcoming season, but given Cozy Harbor’s expectation of increased demand, he wasn’t expecting a repeat of last year.
“As a company, we’re going to be more aggressive in our selling,” he said. “We’ve made a major effort in the last few years to strengthen the domestic leg of the barstool, so it’s now around 30%, and we’ve developed new products to expand our export market.”
Nonetheless, Fuller remained realistic about expectations.
“There’s still a very limited market for moving volume at the numbers everyone anticipates,” he said. “But product should move faster. Overall, it looks like a fairly good situation coming into this market this winter.”
Shrimp CSFs
Even during the worst days of last season, small-scale fishermen who supplied CSFs earned significantly more per pound than the average.
CSFs, which involve members of the public signing up to buy product directly from harvesters, fishermen’s groups, and co-ops, do not move massive volumes of product. However, they do provide tremendous opportunities for small communities where fishermen can supply fresh product directly to consumers at pre-set prices.
At least three communities were already signing up members for shrimp CSFs.
Port Clyde fishermen, the first in the region to launch a shrimp CSF under the “Port Clyde Fresh Catch” label, have greatly expanded their offerings this year, thanks to their new fishermen-owned processing facility, where shrimp can be both peeled and cooked.
As a result, Port Clyde was offering one-to-12-week CSF subscriptions – with a three-pound-minimum order per week – for four different product types: whole raw shrimp; whole cooked; raw picked meat; and cooked picked meat.
For more information go to <www.portclydefreshcatch.com/subscribecsfshrimp.html> or call Jessica Libby at (207) 975-2191.
In Stonington, ME, the Penobscot East Resource Center (PERC) was lining up CSF members. Last year, PERC’s shrimp CSF had 120 members who bought close to 6,000 pounds of shrimp and, according to Associate Director Veronica Young, the center hopes to surpass those numbers this year.
PERC once again will be offering full 10-pound and half five-pound shares for 10 weeks beginning in January. For more information, call Holly Eaton, the center’s CSF coordinator, at (207) 367-2708 or go online to <www.penobscoteast.org>.
In New Hampshire, the Yankee Fishermen’s Cooperative was offering shares in a new CSF organized with help from University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. The product will be marketed under the “New Hampshire Fresh and Local” logo.
CSF subscribers can sign up for “full” 10-pound-per-week shares or “half” five-pound-per-week shares for eight weeks running through January and February.
For more information go to <http://cecf1.unh.edu/formbuilder/forms/form287_shrmpcsf.htm>.
Season info
To learn more about the 2010 Northern shrimp season, call ASMFC shrimp plan coordinator Brad Spear at (202) 289-6400 or visit the ASMFC web site at <www.asmfc.org>.
Janice M. Plante
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