Results
No analytical assessment is available. Evaluation of stock status is based upon fishery and research survey data.
The next assessment will take place prior to the NAFO Annual Meeting in September 2023.
Human impactMainly fishery related mortality and low bycatch in other fisheries. Other sources (e.g. pollution, shipping, oilindustry) are un-documented.
Biological and Environmental InteractionsMultispecies models (SCR Docs. 16/35, and 18/24), suggest that predation by cod and redfish, together with fishing, were the main factors driving the shrimp stock to the collapse after 2007.
Results of modelling suggest that, in unexploited conditions, cod and redfish would be expected to be a highly dominant component of the system, and high shrimp stock sizes like the ones observed in the 1998 – 2007 period would not be a stable feature in the Flemish Cap. It is uncertain whether this represents a causal relationship and/or covariance as a result of some environmental factor.
A 2018 summary of the state of the fish community in the Flemish Cap (3M) EPU indicated that this ecosystem has not experienced sustained reductions in overall productivity observed in other EPUs. With the exception of a short-lived increase in 2005-2009, total biomass has remained fairly stable over time despite the changes in individual stocks.
Fishing MortalityRecruitmentBiomass