Assessment and management of spot prawn, Pandalus platyceros, alongthe British Columbia coast

摘要

Prawns, Pandalus platyceros, are the largest of the seven species of shrimp harvested along the coast of British Columbia. The commercial trap fishery accounts for more than 95% of the total prawn landings and represents the most valuable shrimp fishery in British Columbia. Landed values during the past few years have been in excess of $25M Cdn. The prawn by trap fishery is managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to prevent both growth and recruitment overfishing. Growth overfishing is controlled through a combination of seasonal closures, size limits, trap mesh size requirements, fishing time restrictions, and a single haul limit. Recruitment overfishing is controlled using a fixed escapement-based model. Escapement is indexed based on the number of female spawners per trap. Implementation of the fixed escapement strategy is carried out through an in-season, industry-funded monitoring program. The assessment and management frameworks for prawns appear to have been fairly successful; nevertheless, the fixed escapement model still requires improvements to achieve optimum production from all areas of the coast.