Northern prawn (P. borealis)
With a live weight volume of about 220,000 metric tons (MT) in 2017, Northern prawn is the most widely available coldwater shrimp species on the market. Its markets are mainly in Europe and Asia. Consumer preferences for the final product differ widely from one market to the next. UK consumers are particularly fond of cooked and peeled prawns, Sweden and Russia have a preference for shell-on prawns, and brined shrimp is sold throughout Europe to restaurants as a salad ingredient. Japan, in turn, regards Northern prawn as a true delicacy and calls it “ama-ebi,” sweet shrimp.
Greenland, the biggest producer, exports most of its prawn to Denmark, a hub in the Northern prawn trade. In 2018, Denmark imported roughly 80,000 MT of coldwater shrimp, 60,000 MT of which came from Greenland and 10,000 MT from Canada. Denmark re-exports most of its imports. Destinations within Europe, especially Sweden and the U.K., account for the majority of re-exports (65 percent). Exports outside the E.U. are mainly destined for China (20 percent) and Russia (9 percent).
Other exporters of Northern prawn have their own markets. Canada’s largest markets are China (45 percent) and Europe (about 40 percent). Russia has its main markets in Korea (37 percent), China (23 percent) and Japan (20 percent); and Norway sells mainly within Scandinavia and to China. With the support of Seabridge Marketing, Canada entered the Chinese market and established a brand for (Canadian) Northern prawn.
Russia, previously an important Northern prawn market, saw its imports decline drastically since the country has enforced an import ban in 2014. Companies like Norebo, Defa Group and Fishing Company Virma have acquired their own factory vessels to fish for Northern prawn in the Barents Sea. With the absence of a quota being imposed by the Russian government, it is likely that production will increase further until a binding quota is imposed, which is expected to happen in 2020.
The Northern prawn sector is dominated by large fishing companies. In Greenland, the sector is dominated by Royal Greenland, Polar Seafood, and the Christensen family. In Canada, the fisheries are dominated by vessels owned by the joint venture of Clearwater and Ocean Prawns and by several other companies, such as Ocean Choice. As they are large companies, they can take on a fair share of marketing the product as well. In Norway, the fisheries are run by a number of companies that have organized themselves in a marketing and sales company called Coldwater Prawns of Norway. In Estonia, Reyktal, Reval Seafood, UAB Marlinas and Ocean Tiger dominate the Northern prawn segment.
