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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 36 Number 4
December 2008
ASMFC approves full 180-day shrimp season
GLOUCESTER, MA – For the first time since 1991, northern shrimp fishermen will be allowed to fish a 180-day season starting Dec. 1, 2008 and running straight through to May 29, 2009 with no mandatory days off.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Northern Shrimp Section voted unanimously during a Nov. 7 meeting here to support this expanded season, which is 28 days longer than last year’s 152-day fishery.
“The biomass is at a relatively high level,” said Massachusetts ASMFC Commissioner Paul Diodati. “I think we’re all anxious to create as much economic opportunity as possible.”
New Hampshire state Rep. Dennis Abbott added, “It’s good to see us go in this direction. We’re seeing the rewards of the sacrifices fishermen went through.”
As part of its vote, the section again required the use of Nordmore grates throughout the season – a staple of the fishery now – and it prohibited the use of mechanical shaking devices to “cull, grade, or separate catches of shrimp” at sea.
The 180-day season marked a significant victory for industry advisers, who had recommended the December-May fishery.
The section’s Northern Shrimp Technical Committee was a bit more conservative in its recommendations, saying it would “not object to another 150-day season” given the positive results from this summer’s stock assessment survey.
The technical committee recommended that the section take steps to maintain current low fishing mortality levels on shrimp and keep 2009 landings “at or below 5,103 metric tons (mt),” which is close to the 2008 preliminary landings figure of 4,783 mt.
Stock status
Even considering this cautionary note, the section’s decision to go with a 180-day season didn’t turn out to be all that difficult after Brad Spear, ASMFC’s shrimp plan coordinator, provided a summary of this year’s stock assessment findings, which contained “generally good news.”
The survey, conducted by the research vessel Gloria Michelle, included 38 tows, a bit less than usual, but all “stock indices,” such as catch per tow in terms of both weight and numbers, “came in at above average,” said Spear.
Additionally, while the survey showed that the 2006 year class continues to be “very weak,” the strong 2004 year class is expected to dominate landings this winter. And those shrimp – the large, five-year-old females – are perfect candidates to catch since most are expected to die of natural causes in the near future and may not be available next year.
Furthermore, the “moderate” sized 2005 year class should bolster 2009 landings. And, in terms of the future, the 2007 year class, which the Gloria Michelle survey crew saw for the first time this summer, appears to be “above average in strength,” reported Spear.
He noted, however, that the technical committee normally hesitates to put too much weight on survey estimates for a new, incoming year class because year-one results are variable and contain a lot of uncertainty.
As a result, Spear said, the technical committee will continue to track the size of the 2007 year class “very closely.” But, he added, “It is encouraging at this point.”
The technical committee estimated that “exploitable biomass” – the amount of shrimp at harvestable size – is now up around 27,900 mt, significantly higher than the 2001 time series low of 4,700 mt.
Market questions
Given the large and healthy size of the biomass, Maine fisherman Terry Alexander, chair of the section’s shrimp industry advisory panel, said industry wanted to see a December-May fishery even though it knew that marketing shrimp in May would be difficult.
“We think the time is right for a full six-month season, and hopefully one of us can come up with a market in May,” he said. “We won’t know unless we give it a try.”
The advisory panel, along with more than a dozen other interested industry members, met Oct. 29 in Portland, ME to review last season’s fishery and get a preview of the new stock assessment results.
There – and through earlier conversations with processors – fishermen learned that limited, if any, market for northern shrimp would be available in May.
Harvesters took that warning to heart. The 2008 fishery was supposed to run through April 30, but it shut down on April 16 by default because the market shut down, Alexander said.
“Let us try”
Nonetheless, several industry members said they wanted to give May a try, and New Hampshire fisherman Peter Kendall said, “The stock is one of the best we’ve seen. If you’re going to increase the season, now is the time to do it.”
Port Clyde, ME fishermen Glen and Gary Libby both supported a May fishery.
Gary Libby said, “If we had the opportunity to fish in May, we might be able to make something work on the market side.”
And Glen Libby noted that the five-year-old shrimp from the strong 2004 year class would die of old age if left unharvested.
“The opportunity should be there for us to catch them,” he said. “That will be a big help for us.”
Maine fisherman Marshall Alexander also emphasized that product quality increased in May after egg-bearing females had spawned and hardened up again.
Terry Alexander said industry understood that scientists wanted to cap the 2009 catch at 5,103 mt, and no one at the advisory panel meeting thought that would be a problem.
“The markets are down, the demand is down, the processing capacity is down,” he said. “We were fairly confident we could stay within that limit.”
Maine Commissioner George Lapointe also said he wasn’t worried about staying below the cap, especially since the ASMFC section could meet again and take quick action if necessary.
“If things get crazy, we have emergency authority to cut back,” he said. “That should give us all some comfort.”
Tough year ahead
Fishermen also told section members that processors expressed serious doubts the price for shrimp this year would increase and, if anything, might be lower.
Furthermore, while fuel costs have come down from staggering $4-plus-per-gallon levels, fuel remains expensive, especially given the low price per pound for shrimp.
Recognizing these limiting factors, and acutely aware of the marketing issues, the section seemed prepared to act quickly to endorse a 180-day season on what everyone agreed was a healthy resource.
What about April?
But first, one more question was raised.
Since the bottom dropped out of the market in mid-April last season and fishing activity was minimal during that month, Rep. Abbott asked whether the section should establish a season from December through March, shut down in April, and reopen in May.
“It seems there’s not a lot of value in the April fishery,” said Abbott.
According to port sampling records, the catch can be “mixy” in April with large numbers of small males negatively increasing the count per pound, further reducing the price.
But audience members made it clear that an April closure would spell a sure end to the season.
“The processors have told us they will not reopen if they close,” said Terry Alexander. “It’s a workforce issue. If they can keep a skeleton crew on, they might be able to keep going.”
Furthermore, Marshall Alexander explained that fishermen who had any leftover groundfish days-at-sea in April would “burn them up” because the groundfish fishing year ends April 30.
Dollar-wise, groundfish returns more money per pound than shrimp, “so you’re always going to see that happen in April,” Alexander added.
That said, the section easily adopted a 180-day season and then moved on to discuss other shrimp matters.
Janice M. Plante
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