Of all Seafood, the consumption of warmwater shrimps is without a doubt the most destructive for marine fisheries. For every kilo of Tiger shrimps (those big, yummy ones) there is over 10 kilo of by-catch (other fish species, dolphins, turtles, sharks, etc). All this by-catch is dead when taken aboard, since boats drag there net sometimes for periods longer than 5 hours. When you buy shrimps next time, please choose for coldwater shrimps (from Canada for example).
The warmwater shrimp fishery:
* accounts for one third of the bycatch in the world’s oceans (10 pounds of bycatch for every pound of shrimp),
* reduces the Oceans’ biodiversity and puts dozens of species in danger of extinction,
* in general does not use the Nordmore grate and does little to reduce the amount of bycatch it generates,
* is responsible for the destruction of mangroves and is the cause of much social injustice (farmed shrimp),
* endangers local industry by the dumping of cheap products, which are not caught or produced in an ethical manner.
The coldwater shrimp fishery:
* has negligible bycatch rates (less than 1 %), thanks to the use of the Nordmore grate,
* is a model of sustainable fishing, because stocks are well managed and catch quotas respected,
* is an excellent candidate for ecocertification, which would help consumers identify this product as such at the grocery store and make it more desirable for importing countries.
