SCOTIAN SHELF SHRIMP FISHERY (SFAS 13, 14, 15) 2012 Annual Surveillance Certificate Number: F-SCS-0023 2000 Powell Street, Suite 600 Emeryville, CA 94608, USA December 2012 Scotian Shelf Shrimp 2012 Surveillance Audit | © SCS Global Services Page 1 of 34 Client Contacts: Northsyde Processing Ltd. 139 Queen St., North Sydney, NS B2A 1A9, Canada Lori Kennedy: [email protected] Annette LeBlanc L’Association Coopétive des Pêcheurs de l’Ille Ltée 90 Main St., laméque, NB E8T 1M8, Canada Serge Haché: [email protected] Produits Belle Baie Ltée 10 Rue de Quai, NB E1W 1B6 Fernand Brideau: [email protected] General Information Date of Issue December 2012 Prepared by SCS Adrienne Vincent, B.Sc. Consultant Don Parsons, M.Sc. Certification Date 16 June 2011 Certification Expiration Date 15 June 2016 Surveillance Team SCS Adrienne Vincent (lead) Consultant Don Parsons (original assessment team) Surveillance Stage 1st Annual Surveillance Methodologies MSC Accreditation Manual Issue 5.1, MSC Fisheries Certification Requirements Version 1.2 MSC Guidance to Certification Requirements Version 1.1 Scotian Shelf Shrimp 2012 Surveillance Audit | © SCS Global Services Page 2 of 34 Contents Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................................. 4 Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 6 MSC Certification and Conditions for Continued Compliance ................................................... 6 Consequences for Non-Compliance ....................................................................................... 8 Surveillance Audit timing and Frequency ....................................................................................... 9 Assessment Overview ..................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 9 Surveillance Team ..................................................................................................................... 10 Schedule for Meetings .................................................................................................................. 11 MSC Blue Eco-Label and Chain-of-Custody .................................................................................. 12 Certificate Sharing and Other Fishers ........................................................................................... 12 Summary of New Documentation since Certification .................................................................. 12 Summary of the Fishery ................................................................................................................ 13 Principle 1 ................................................................................................................................. 13 Stock Status and Harvest Strategy ........................................................................................ 14 Target species recent landings.............................................................................................. 18 Principle 2 ................................................................................................................................. 18 Target Species Ecosystem Impacts from Fishing ...................................................................... 18 Non-target species: Retained, Bycatch and ETP ................................................................... 18 Habitat and Ecosystem Impacts from Fishing ....................................................................... 18 Principle 3 ................................................................................................................................. 19 Governance and Regulation.................................................................................................. 19 Progress toward closing conditions .............................................................................................. 22 Results and Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 28 References .................................................................................................................................... 29 Additional Figures and Tables ....................................................................................................... 30 Appendix I: Letter of Support from DFO ....................................................................................... 32 Appendix II: Updated SCS Condition Milestones Organized by Surveillance Audit ..................... 33 Scotian Shelf Shrimp 2012 Surveillance Audit | © SCS Global Services Page 3 of 34 List of Acronyms BMSY Biomass calculated for Maximum Sustainable Yield CR Certification Requirements (v1.2) DFO Fisheries and Oceans Canada DAT Default Assessment Tee ETP Endangered, Threatened or Protected FLIM Fishing Mortality Limit Reference Point IFMP Integrated Fisheries Management Plan ISO International Standard Organization MSC Marine Stewardship Council NAFO Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization OTB Otter Trawl, Bottom P1, P2, P3 The three guiding Principles of the MSC PI Performance Indicator SARA Species At Risk Act SCS SCS Global Services SFA Shrimp Fishing Area SSB Spawning Stock Biomass SAR Science Advisory Report TAC Total Allowable Catch ULR Upper Limit Reference Point Scotian Shelf Shrimp 2012 Surveillance Audit | © SCS Global Services Page 4 of 34 Scotian Shelf Shrimp 2012 Surveillance Audit | © SCS Global Services Page 5 of 34 Executive Summary This report summarizes the information from the 1st annual surveillance including the required progress for closing out conditions for continued certification. This report also includes the client action plans for each condition with associated timelines. This fishery was assessed using the MSC developed default assessment tree. The surveillance audit for 2012 utilized the MSC Certification Requirements and Guidance to Certification Requirements (v1.2 and 1.1 respectively). The surveillance audit was conducted by SCS lead auditor Ms. Adrienne Vincent and Mr. Don Parsons. Mr. Parsons was on the original assessment team. A stakeholder meeting was held in the afternoon of 13th November, 2012 at the offices of Intertek Moody Marine. At the request of the management agency, DFO, and other participants, SCS conducted a joint meeting with Intertek Moody Marine that was also conducting the 4th annual surveillance and re-assessment of the harmonized shrimp fishery that takes place in the same Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFAs 13, 14 and 15). The surveillance meetings took place at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth Nova Scotia on 14 November, 2012. MSC Certification and Conditions for Continued Compliance An MSC certificate is valid for a period of 5-years. During the initial certification, 4 conditions were identified (see final report on MSC website1). Conditions must be closed-out before the end of the certification period in June 2016. Each of the conditions to certification was addressed with the client action plan. The action plan includes the actions to be undertaken, responsible parties and timeframe for meeting milestone goals. During this and each surveillance audit, the audit team will check progress against these milestones. The surveillance team will also “spot check” other performance indicators from the original assessment to verify that the fishery is still in compliance with the MSC requirements. Results from the audit are published in the form of a report to the MSC website 30 days after the onsite visit. The client group has an opportunity to review the report and respond before publication. The audit team evaluates progress toward closing conditions as “ahead of target,” “on target,” or “behind target.” This is based on whether there is enough evidence that sufficient progress is being made relative to the client action plan timeframe for milestones. If a “spot check” of performance indicators reveals that the Performance Indicator (PI) no longer meets all scoring elements of the Scoring Guidepost 80 (SG80), an additional “condition” will be raised that must be addressed within the life of the certificate. In this surveillance audit, no deficiencies were evident and no new conditions are raised. 1 Available at: http://www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/fisheries-search/scotian-shelf- shrimp/files/b0a7257d40e92f07c79e63bd38f66c3fc37473af/@@display-file/file_data Scotian Shelf Shrimp 2012 Surveillance Audit | © SCS Global Services Page 6 of 34 Table 1: Conditions from the original certification (SCS, June 2011) and designation after the first surveillance audit. 1 Performance 1.1.2 Limit and target reference points are appropriate for the stock. Indicator (PI) SG80 of PI Reference points are appropriate for the stock and can be estimated. 1.1.2 The limit reference point is set above the level at which there is an appreciable risk of impairing reproductive capacity. The target reference point is such that the stock is maintained at a level consistent with BMSY or some measure or surrogate with similar intent or outcome. For low