Warming waters send Gaspé's northern shrimp stock plummeting, spelling trouble for Quebec fishermen

Every year, Fourchette Bleue, which promotes what it calls "under-exploited" marine species in the St. Lawrence for consumption, releases a list of recommended sustainable seafood products for consumers. Toad crabs, oysters and green sea urchins all made the cut this year, but for the first time, the northern shrimp did not.

That's because stocks of the shrimp have taken a major dive in recent years, causing concern in the local fishing industry as Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) floats the idea of potentially closing fisheries in the near future.

Marie-Julie Roux, a research scientist at DFO, says the deep water temperatures of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence Estuary — the habitat of Quebec's northern shrimp — have steadily risen in recent years, going from 5.2 C in 2009 to 7 C in 2022.

Northern shrimp can still be found, she says, but unlike before, they are concentrated in much smaller areas. At the same time, redfish, which feed on shrimp, are becoming more plentiful.

"As warming is occurring and oxygen concentrations are decreasing, shrimp are moving to try and find conditions that are still favourable," she told CBC Radio's Breakaway, adding that the displaced shrimp are moving to shallower, colder and more oxygenated waters.

All of this means bad news for the local shrimp-fishing industry.

Roux says the plummeting number of shrimp may not be enough to keep commercial fisheries afloat, a situation that would mean fishing practices would have to change to become more resilient to the socio-economic consequences brought on by warming waters.

"We need to adapt the fisheries system [and] coastal communities that rely on ocean resources in a changing environment," said Roux.

Shrimp fishermen have seen their harvests decrease, causing financial difficulty. (Radio-Canada)

Shrimp fishermen, a 'dying breed': Quebec official

Patrice Élément, director of Quebec's shrimp fisheries office, says shrimp fishermen are now a "dying breed."

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Business has been steadily getting worse. Since the pandemic, he says shrimp fishermen who cast their nets have found their catches containing fewer and fewer shrimp.

"Almost everyone has been losing money by the truckload in the last two or three years," Élément said, adding that many shrimp fleets are technically bankrupt, with coastal communities that depend on fishing in the Gaspé at risk of hemorrhaging jobs.

In January, DFO announced a significant reduction of shrimp fishing quotas for 2024.

At the same time, it announced the reopening of a commercial fishery for redfish after nearly 30 years.

Fishermen, Élément said, were hoping to be granted the right to catch more redfish "to help us get through the crisis." But DFO is reserving most of the redfish catch for other provinces, leaving "crumbs" for local fishermen in Quebec, according to Élément.