Eastern Scotian Shelf Background
The northern or pink shrimp, Pandalus borealis, is the only shrimp species of commercial importance in the Maritimes Region. Shrimp are crustaceans, and have a hard outer shell which they must periodically shed (molt) in order to grow. The females produce eggs once a year in the fall and carry them,...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1997
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.618.3654 http://starfish.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/rap/internet/ssr_1997_c3_15_e.pdf |
| Summary: | The northern or pink shrimp, Pandalus borealis, is the only shrimp species of commercial importance in the Maritimes Region. Shrimp are crustaceans, and have a hard outer shell which they must periodically shed (molt) in order to grow. The females produce eggs once a year in the fall and carry them, attached to their abdomen, through the winter until the spring, when they hatch. The newly hatched shrimp spend 3 to 4 months as pelagic larvae, feeding near the surface. At the end of this period they move to the bottom and take up the life style of the adults. The northern shrimp first matures as a male, at 2 to 3 years of age, but around age 4 it changes sex, to spend another 1 to 2 years as a female. Shrimp concentrate in deep holes on the eastern Scotian Shelf, but nearshore concentrations along coastlines closest to the offshore populations have recently been discovered. They prefer temperatures of 2 to 6 ºC, and a soft, muddy bottom with a high organic content. The shrimp fishery on the Scotian Shelf concentrates during summer in Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFAs) 13-15, also called the Louisbourg, Misaine and Canso holes, respectively. The shrimp are fished with otter trawls having a 40 mm mesh size throughout. The main management tools are limits on the number of licenses (30) and size of vessels used, minimum mesh size, use of a Nordmøre separator grate, and a Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The fleet is divided into two sectors, a midshore sector consisting of vessels 65-100 ' LOA based in New Brunswick on the Gulf of St. Lawrence side, and an inshore sector consisting of vessels <65' LOA based on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. An experimental inshore trap fishery, currently consisting of 9 active licenses, has recently developed in Chedebucto Bay. Commercial quantities were also |
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