SCS Global Services has released its draft assessment report on the Mexican Pacific shrimp fishery, putting it on track to be certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council later this year.
The assessment includes three species: blue shrimp (Litopenaeus stylirostris), white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), and brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus). The fishery uses bottom-trawl gear and has a geographic range that includes the Pacific coast of Mexico, from Baja California Sur to the Border with Guatemala, including the Gulf of California.
SCS found that the fishery does meet the scope requirements for the MSC fishery assessment. The report is open for public comment until 7 March, 2020.
“A site-visit is expected sometime in March,” MSC spokesperson Jackie Marks told SeafoodSource.
The client for the certification is Comité Sistema Producto de Camarón de Altamar. Boats in the fleet under assessment fish with trawl nets with turtle- and fish-excluder devices. The two trawl nets are equipped with otter boards and are generally fished around 60 fathoms. The Pacific shrimp harvest usually extends between six and seven months from September or October and to March or April, with 70 percent of the harvest taking place in the first three months of the season opening.
According to the Assessment report, the Pacific shrimp fishery represents close to 80 percent of the total shrimp catch in Mexico and is one of the most important and commercially valuable fisheries in the country. Nearly all the shrimp is sold as frozen and a quarter of the production is exported, with the the United States, Japan, and France listed as the primary export destinations.
Mexican shrimp exports generated USD 511 million (EUR 469.7 million) in 2018, and per capita consumption of shrimp in Mexico has also increased over the last decade.
Photo courtesy of Chuck Wagner/Shutterstock
