The offshore fishery is a year-round one beginning in SFAs 5 and 6 in January and moving north as the ice permits throughout the year. This year-round fishing pattern is essential in order to maintain a financially viable operation and to provide a continuous supply of shrimp to the fiercely competitive international market. The catch has increased close to twenty-fold between 1978 and 1997, rising from 2,600 tonnes to 48,310 tonnes. Factors include resource availability, a volatile international market and most significantly, exchange rates. Asia and Europe.
Prohibitive tariffs have a substantial effect on the sale of Canadian shrimp products to Europe.
The addition of modern plants in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to the existing plants in Quebec and New Brunswick have increased the Canadian demand for industrial shrimp for processing.