A proposed change in DFO’s northern shrimp assessment model has shifted the species into the healthy zone – a move that the FFAW is applauding.

Union President Dwan Street says the change is long overdue and recognizes what she calls the ecological realities in the Newfoundland and Labrador ecosystem.

DFO has reduced its Precautionary Approach Framework from six fishing areas to two stock assessment regions -North and South – divided where NAFO regions 2H and 2J meet.While it’s yet to be approved, the modified Upper Stock Reference Point shows both populations in the healthy zone, with the number of mature female shrimp capable of reproducing increasing in the northern zone and stable in the southern zone.

Fisheries union president Dwan Street says the next step is to ensure access to the resource by the inshore fleet and that future allocations reflect the change in stock status.