Three-quarters of Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence northern shrimp trawl fishery has been certified as well managed and sustainable under the Marine Stewardship Council program.
Five members of the Association of Quebec Seafood Producers are now eligible to display the MSC eco-label - Crevettes du Nord Atlantique, Crustacés des Monts, Fruits de Mer de l'est du Québec Ltée., Tabatière Seafood and Pêcheries Marinard Ltée - as are two New Brunswick-based shrimp processors - Produits Belle-Baie Ltée and L'Association Coopérative des Pêcheurs de l'Ile Ltée.
The certified portion of the fishery, which landed around 27,000 metric tons of shrimp in 2007, includes licensed vessels in the Canadian federal waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence that supply the seven companies' processing facilities. The remaining quarter of the fishery is in the final stages of assessment.
Tavel Certification, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, assessed the fishery.
More than 120 fisheries are engaged in the London-based nonprofit's program - 33 are certified, 78 are in assessment and another 20 to 30 are in confidential pre-assessment.
