Brown shrimp

The North Sea Brown Shrimp fishery is certified but remains a data limited species. There is some concern for the biomass of the stock, but there is no concern for fishing pressure.Brown shrimp are a short-lived and fast-growing species, so conventional assessments for long-term Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) and biomass reference points are unsuitable. As a result, no formal stock assessments exist, and Route 2 scoring has been applied, with brown shrimp considered to have high resilience to fishing pressure.From 2003 to 2015, landings of brown shrimp consistently exceeded 30,000 tonnes. However, between 2016 and 2023, landings became unstable. In 2018, landings reached the highest in the timeseries at almost 47,000 tonnes, while in 2023 landings were below 15,000 tonnes – the second lowest of the timeseries. The majority of the fleet (65-70% of vessels) are German or Dutch.Recent estimates indicate that fishing mortality has exceeded levels associated with long-term sustainable yield, and led to growth overfishing. In response, management measures such as mesh size increases and effort reductions have been introduced. However, these changes have not yet had sufficient time to improve yield-per-recruit estimates, leading to the certified fishing receiving a score of 70 for stock status – below the best practice threshold of 80.Landings Per Unit Effort (LPUE) have declined over time, particularly among German, Dutch, and Danish fleets. The proportion of large shrimps, a key indicator of stock health, has also decreased. Between 1950 and 1990, shrimp over 60mm have dropped from approximately 27% to 12%, and those over 70mm from around 10% to just 2%. Although these proportions have remained stable since the 1990s, the uncertainty of the impact of recent management measures means that a concern remains for brown shrimp biomass in the North Sea.That said, LPUE decline in recent years has not been as steep. In 2019 and 2020, LPUE declined less sharply than total landings, indicating a reduction in fishing effort rather than low stock abundance. In 2023, monthly landings and LPUE values for Germany, Denmark, France, and the UK were similar to the 10-year averages. For the Dutch fleet, landings and LPUE estimates were below the 10-year average. The certified fishery also scores above the best practice threshold of 80 for harvest strategy and harvest control rules. These factors cumulatively suggest that, despite a concern for biomass, there is currently no concern for fishing pressure.

In this MSC-certified fishery, member states have a range of management measures in place, and there are no outstanding conditions. A Harvest Control Rule is in place for the species, which has been triggered a few times in recent years.The North Sea Brown Shrimp fishery has been Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified since 2017. There are no conditions or requirements to make any improvements to the management of the fishery, with a management system score of 90.2 - exceeding the best practice threshold of 80. The fishery is managed through a combination of EU-wide regulations, national management measures, and the Brown Shrimp Management Plan (BSMP).Access to the fishery is regulated through licensing schemes of individual member states. All vessels must hold a valid fishing license, with national governments imposing caps on the number of active vessels. The Netherlands has a limit of 220 licenses, Denmark has a limit of 28, and Germany issues licenses to all vessels but requires a special permit for those operating in the Plaice Box. Additionally, EU fisheries control measures regulate engine power and beam trawl specifications, with maximum beam lengths of 18m in The Netherlands and 20m in Germany and Denmark.Effort controls are also in place, though these vary among member states. In the Netherlands, fishing is prohibited from Friday at 12:00 to Sunday at 00:00, with a weekly limit of 108 hours in Dutch waters and a biweekly limit of 216 hours outside Dutch waters. Natura 2000 sites benefit from additional spatial closures. Germany enforces closed areas and seasonal voluntary closures to minimise bird disturbance. Denmark has a voluntary 12-week closure from Friday at 09:00 to Sunday at 18:00, prohibits shrimp fishing in the Danish Wadden Sea due to the ‘Shrimp Line’, and bans trawling within 3 nautical miles of the coast. These national measures operate alongside the BSMP, which caps annual fishing effort at 200 days at sea per vessel. This cap is adjustable if effort and landings deviate from targets for long-term sustainable yields.Gear regulations have evolved to improve selectivity and reduce bycatch. EU rules require shrimp beam trawls to be fitted with sieve or veil nets and sorting grids that deflect non-target species from the codend. Mesh sizes have gradually increased to reduce growth overfishing of undersized shrimp: from 20mm prior to 2016, to 24mm in Denmark, and to 25m In the Netherlands and Germany by 2023. A proposed increased to 26mm was rejected, leading to member states adopting alternative effort reduction schemes to achieve comparable improvements to yield-per-recruit estimates. Onboard sieving is also used to remove undersized shrimp and bycatch, and the proportion of shrimp passing through a 6.8mm bar width sieve, known as ‘seivage’ must not exceed 15% of total shrimp landings in a two-week period. Penalties are applied if this threshold is exceeded.A key feature of the BSMP is the formal Harvest Control Rule (HCR), which ensures that fishing effort responds to stock conditions. Landings Per Unit Effort (LPUE) are assessed monthly, and if values fall below any of the five defined reference points, then fishing is restricted for all vessels to a predetermined number of hours for the following two weeks. Reassessment occurs every two weeks while LPUE remains below reference point 1, with effort reduction applied in incremental steps based on the severity. The HCR has been triggered multiple times in recent years, including in February and March of 2024. Notably, in March 2021, LPUE dropped below reference points 1 and 2, but a consensus was not reach among member states, and the HCR was not activated – an outcome that could be consider non-compliance with the BSMP.Monitoring and enforcement of spatial and temporal management measures is supported by Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) and Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). Compliance with the BSMP, including gear specifications, catch composition, and effort limits, is tracked through logbooks, self-sampling programmes, and observer data. Independent inspection agencies are responsible for ensuring vessels operate within legal limits and that management measures are complied with across the fleet.

Beam trawls can have significant impacts on the seabed, however shrimp beam trawls are often lighter and less damaging than traditional beam trawls. Modifications to the shrimp beam trawls help to minimise bycatch of other fish species, including ETP species.The North Sea Brown Shrimp Fishery operates using modified beam trawl which are lighter than those used in flatfish fisheries, resulting in lower seabed disturbance. These trawls are designed to skim the surface of sandy and muddy substrates with the use of bobbins, and no tickler chains. This design creates shallow furrows in the soft sediment, approximately 2cm deep, minimising physical disturbance to the benthic environment.Shrimp fishing occurs largely on sandy/muddy substrates in the Wadden Sea and adjacent coastal areas. Sensitive habitats, such as seagrass beds and Sabellaria reefs occur in these areas, however they are not impacted by shrimp fishing. Seagrass beds are in shallow intertidal areas where shrimp fishing does not occur, and Sabellaria reefs are avoided due to the entanglement risk and damage potential to fishing gear. Member states also apply spatial restrictions through zonation and zero-use zones, resulting in large portions of the Wadden Sea being closed to shrimp fishing, including the majority of the Danish Wadden Sea behind the ‘Shrimp Line’. Natura 2000 sites also have negligible fishing activity due to their rocky and stony substrates, which are unsuitable for shrimp trawls.The fishery operates under EU regulations designed to minimise bycatch. Quota species must not exceed 5% of total catch, and the fishery benefits from a de minimis exemption under the EU Landing Obligation. Vessels over 10m must maintain logbooks and landing declarations, while those over 12m are required to use electronic logbooks. Gear modifications such as sorting grids and sieve nets help to deflect non-target species and remove undersized shrimp. Codend mesh sizes are regulations – 25mm in Germany and the Netherlands, and 24mm in Denmark. If more than 15% of caught shrimp pass through an onboard sieve of 6.8mm within a two week period, penalties are applied. The Brown Shrimp Management Plan also includes a Harvest Control Rule (HCR) based on landings per unit effort (LPUE) to prevent overfishing.Onboard sorting systems use water flow to reduce handling stress and improve survival rates of bycatch. Common bycatch species include plaice, whiting, dab, herring, haddock, and cod. Flatfish generally have high post-release survival rates, while roundfish are more vulnerable due to capture and sorting stress.Encounters with Endangered, Threatened, and Protected (ETP) species are rare. ETP species of this fishery include elasmobranchs, lampreys, sturgeon, shads, eels, and houting. Fishers self-report these interactions and must release individuals likely to survive. Elasmobranchs show high resilience, often with survival rates above 80%. In Germany, 50% of trips report no ETP encounters, and in the Netherlands, this increases to 90%. Denmark uses a mobile app to report encounters. Further improvements in monitoring and reporting technology is needed due to concerns for a lack of self-reporting from vessels, and the likelihood of ETP species being missed when automatically sorted onboard.To improve monitoring and reporting of fishing activity, MCS would like to see remote electronic monitoring (REM) with cameras implemented, used and enforced.