Canadian Association for Prawn Producers

Invested in Sustainability

Bruce Chapman is the Executive Director of the Canadian Association for Prawn Producers (CAPP).  He started in the industry in 1977—the same year Canada led the world by extending its fisheries jurisdiction to 200 miles. After that, the United States followed as did other countries until the 200-mile zone was incorporated into the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. “It was an exciting time in the industry,” Chapman recalls. “At that point, most of the distant-water fishing fleets were very close to Canadian shores which provided us with more management control over the resource.”

The CAPP wasn’t around in the 1970s to encourage the idea.  But as representatives for offshore shrimp interests in Eastern Canada, resource management is something the CAPP is highly invested in. Founded in 1992 as a not-for-profit association, the CAPP was set up with a broad mandate to address resource fishing, as well as market issue. “As a general theme, it was established as a mechanism in which to discuss common issues and interests and then project those to the government. Because the fishing industry—particularly on the harvesting side—was federally regulated, there were a lot of matters to discuss.

To give a better idea of the industry, shrimp fishing is a year-round operation that, as an organized fishery, started in the 1970s. Harvesting takes place in channels and along the edge of the continental shelf, from Baffin Island to Newfoundland, near the 200-mile limit. There is about $400 million invested in the offshore shrimp fishing in Atlantic Canada with annual sales of roughly $250 million dollars per year. As for jobs, the industry employs 800 people on the vessels all year—primarily from rural areas in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Onshore, it supports 2,000 people in various rural fishing communities. Part of the fisheries’ do is distribute $10 to $15 million dollars every year to these communities in exchange for their fishing quotas.

Ebbs and flows
The good news is the industry has come through a period of about 10 years of resource growth. Chapman explains the environmental conditions have been ideal as shrimp is a cold-water species and there has been a cold water regime in the last decade. “Associated with that is was the decrease in abundance some of their predators, such as cod,” says Chapman. “Due to the lack of predators and favourable water conditions, the shrimp population has bloomed lately.”

There is no real bad news, at least we hope there isn’t, but the shrimp resource has certainly levelled off. Now fisheries have to start getting a better understanding of the conditions they’re facing for the next 10 years—are they in a period of sustainability or are they going to see the cycle swing the other way? “It’s a big issue,” states Chapman.

The other challenging aspect of the industry is the market. “We have seen worldwide production of shrimp grow in the last 5 years,” Chapman notes. “The increase is primarily driven by farmed warm-water shrimp in Asia. As a result of the supply increase, prices have declined. Add the economic downturn on top of that, and it makes prices even worse. We have reached a critical stage in our business where the economics of it are really a challenge.” Everyone in the industry is looking for ways to overcome the obstacle, whether it’s diversifying markets or reanalysing their cost structure.

Sustainability
Fishing quotas are essential, without them, shrimp fisheries would be out of business. A sustainable supply is invaluable to us, explains Chapman, especially in Canada. “The harvest strategy in Canada is the most conservative in the world, that I’m aware of,” he says. “We’re exploiting the resource at a rate of about 15 per cent per year. For comparison, some other jurisdictions such Greenland or Norway exploit them at 30 to 40 per cent.”

“We have a conservative management approach,” adds Chapman. “That’s why our fisheries have entered full assessment to be considered for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.” The MSC is an independent entity that has given itself the mandate to be a third-party certifier of sustainable fisheries around the world.

“It takes about a year to complete the process,” Chapman explains. “They have established scoring and performance indicators and principles that deal with three items:  sustainability of the directed fishery, the impact on an ecosystem, and soundness of the management system.”

If the fisheries pass the assessment by meeting the MSC’s global standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries, the CAPP and the Northern Coalition would be the holders of the MSC certificate.  Shrimp products from all 17 offshore shrimp license holders in these fisheries then would be eligible to bear the MSC eco-label as an indicator to seafood buyers around the world of the fisheries’ sustainability.

It’s important to Chapman to distinguish the Atlantic shrimp industry from others around the world that might not be so careful. “I get concerned when shrimp fishing is portrayed in other parts of the world, like in the Gulf of Mexico or Southern Asia,” he says. “Sometimes you see it characterized as a wasteful business because the by-catch can amount to more than the shrimp itself. There’s a lot of discarding in those parts. In Canada, we’re dealing with an industry that is completely different.  Our sector actually got an environmental award from the government of Nova Scotia in the 1990s. We introduced a separator grid that goes in the net and separates the fin fish from the shrimp; overall, our by-catch is less than 2 per cent. This is one of the cleanest fisheries in the world in that regard.”  
The Canadian Association for Prawn Producers is to have a vibrant, prosperous and sustainable business for years to come. Chapman assures they will achieve their goal by keeping an eye on both the resource supply and the marketplace.
 
Overview of the Offshore Shrimp Sector
•    12 month, year-round fishery in existence since 1970s.  
•    Takes place in channels and along the edge of the continental shelf, from SFA1 off Baffin Island, through to SFA7 near the 200 mile limit.
•    17 license holders from Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Nunavut; includes 4.5 licenses held by aboriginal interests.
•    $400 million in investments; $50 million goods and services purchased annually; about $10 million in annual cash contributions provided to special interest groups through purchase of “royalty quotas” (about 40% of our total access).
•    About 800 direct person years of employment (about the same as the inshore fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador).
•    Indirectly supports employment of additional 2,000 workers in rural Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Nunavut.
•    Produces 3 whole shell-on product categories: (1) raw frozen “large” size shrimp in 1 kg packages primarily for Japan, (2) cooked frozen “medium” size shrimp in 5 kg packages primarily for Russia and China, and (3) raw frozen “small” shrimp in 18-20 kg packages primarily for Newfoundland and Iceland.