Fisheries for Northern shrimp

Pandalus borealis in the Skagerrak have been given much media attention in recent years, initiated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Sweden listing the product as "avoid" in their consumer guide in 2014. Even with the current eco-certification by Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), there is still questions concerning the development in the fishery since 2014. The WWF has therefore commissioned a report to follow up what has happened in the fishery.

The overall aim of the study is therefore to collate information on sustainability aspects of current shrimp fisheries in the Skagerrak (Norwegian, Danish and Swedish fisheries) to provide a transparent report on current fisheries. Since sustainability comprise of many dimensions, the shrimp fisheries are e.g. in Sweden seen as an iconic cultural activity for coastal communities, broader evaluations are needed than those that currently are done. The point of departure is therefore to utilize the approach of the Australian Fisheries Healthcheck

– a project aiming to provide transparent reporting of a broad range of indicators (sorted into environmental, social & cultural, economic, governance and external influences categories). The intention of Healthcheck is to support existing seafood guides, fishery reports and managers, and provide information to interested citizens.

It was found that much data is already collected on an annual basis that may be used for the Healthcheck indicators, but the data was often not available and analysed on a fishery basis. The shrimp fishery, and many other European fisheries, is also different to most Australian fisheries since it is multijurisdictional, and thus associated to different management objectives between countries

– this is markedly reflected by differences in the three countries’ fleets and fishing patterns, data collection and officially available documentation concerning the shrimp fishery. Few across-countries, standardized indicators could therefore today be reported on for the whole fishery, thus requiring further effort. Several indicators may also require further investigation in terms what may be appropriate metrics for the indicator that is aligned with European circumstances. The study can therefore be seen as a pilot collating which data is currently available to report on broader sustainability aspects of relevance to European fisheries, whereas a future, more detailed analysis of the fishery is needed to investigate the data more in detail.

Concerning the sustainability of the Skagerrak shrimp fishery, the analysis indicates that the overall development shows some positive signals in recent years, such as improved selectivity and more area restrictions to protect sensitive habitats. However, the arguable most basic components of a sustainable fishery

– exploitation level and stock status – exhibit some alarming signals. Furthermore, with landing per unit effort declining in recent years, pressure in the form of e.g. fuel use and habitat impact per kg landed shrimp may be negatively affected, requiring further attention.