Shrimp fishery
Encyclopedia
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
directed toward harvesting either shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
or prawn
Prawn
Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...
s. (Fisheries do not generally distinguish
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
between the two taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
, and the terms are used interchangeably).
Commercial shrimping
Common methods for catching shrimp include otter trawlsTrawling
Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl....
, cast net
Cast net
A cast net, also called a throw net, is a net used for fishing. It is a circular net with small weights distributed around its edge.The net is cast or thrown by hand in such a manner that it spreads out on the water and sinks. This technique is called net casting or net throwing. Fish are caught as...
s, seines, shrimp baiting
Shrimp baiting
Shrimp baiting is a method used by recreational fisherman for of catching shrimp. In the 1980s the sport became popular in the southeastern coastal states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida...
and dip netting
Hand net
A hand net, also called a scoop net, is a net or mesh basket held open by a hoop. It may or may not be on the end of a handle. Hand nets have been used since antiquity and can be used for scooping fish near the surface of the water, such as muskellunge or northern pike.A hand net with a long handle...
. Trawling
Trawling
Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net that is used for trawling is called a trawl....
involves the use of a system of nets. In some parts of the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
, fishing with baited
Fishing bait
Fishing bait is any substance used to attract and catch fish, e.g. on the end of a fishing hook, or inside a fish trap. Traditionally, nightcrawlers, insects, and smaller bait fish have been used for this purpose...
traps
Fish trap
A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps may have the form of a fishing weir or a lobster trap. A typical trap might consist of a frame of thick steel wire in the shape of a heart, with chicken wire stretched around it. The mesh wraps around the frame and then tapers into the inside of...
is also common.
People who catch shrimp are referred to as shrimpers, and the act of catching shrimp is called shrimping. Strikers are the crewmen on the boat who set up and strike the nets.
The following table shows the yearly weight of shrimp and prawns captured globally in millions of tonnes.
| Production | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Million tonnes | 3.03 | 3.09 | 2.96 | 2.97 | 3.55 | 3.54 | 3.42 |
National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service is a United States federal agency. A division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce, NMFS is responsible for the stewardship and management of the nation's living marine resources and their habitat within the...
, in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, three pounds of bycatch
Bycatch
The term “bycatch” is usually used for fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish. It may however also indicate untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting...
are caught for every pound of shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
that goes to market. According to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, in the Gulf of Thailand
Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand , also known in to Malays as Teluk Siam literally meant Gulf of Siam, is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:...
it can be 14 pounds of bycatch per pound of shrimp. Bycatch is often discarded dead or dying by the time it is returned to the sea. Sea turtle
Sea turtle
Sea turtles are marine reptiles that inhabit all of the world's oceans except the Arctic.-Distribution:...
s, already critically endangered, have been killed by the thousands in shrimp trawl nets.
Concerns about bycatch have led fishermen and scientists to develop devices they can put on their nets to reduce unwanted catch. The "bycatch reduction device" (BRD) and the Nordmore grate are net modifications that help fish escape from shrimp nets. All US shrimp trawlers—and all foreign fleets selling shrimp in the US—are supposed to outfit their nets with trap-door turtle excluder device
Turtle excluder device
A turtle excluder device or TED is a specialized device that allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net.In particular, sea turtles can be caught when bottom trawling is used by the commercial shrimp fishing industry. In order to catch shrimp, a fine meshed trawl net is...
s (TEDs) to let sea turtles escape. However, not every nation enforces TED use with equal vigor.
Recreational shrimping
Recreational shrimping is the act of catching shrimp for non-commercial purposes - usually for personal consumption within yield restrictions imposed by law. Common methods for recreational shrimping include shrimp baiting, dip netting, and ozello shrimping.- Shrimp baitingShrimp baitingShrimp baiting is a method used by recreational fisherman for of catching shrimp. In the 1980s the sport became popular in the southeastern coastal states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida...
is a recreational shrimping technique. It involves using bait patties, which are a time-release bait, typically concocted of at least fish mealFish mealFish meal, or fishmeal, is a commercial product made from both whole fish and the bones and offal from processed fish. It is a brown powder or cake obtained by rendering pressing the cooked whole fish or fish trimmings to remove most of the fish oil and water, and then ground...
and clay, though shrimpers sometimes have a secret concoction for their bait patties. The patties are then put in the water, and one waits for the shrimp to arrive. The fisher then throws a cast netCast netA cast net, also called a throw net, is a net used for fishing. It is a circular net with small weights distributed around its edge.The net is cast or thrown by hand in such a manner that it spreads out on the water and sinks. This technique is called net casting or net throwing. Fish are caught as...
over the shrimp to catch them. These nets are typically anywhere from 4 to 10 feet in length when they are unfurled and have a ring of lead weights around the bottom. A lantern is usually placed over the spot where the bait patties have been set out.
- Dip nettingHand netA hand net, also called a scoop net, is a net or mesh basket held open by a hoop. It may or may not be on the end of a handle. Hand nets have been used since antiquity and can be used for scooping fish near the surface of the water, such as muskellunge or northern pike.A hand net with a long handle...
is another recreational shrimping technique. Its name comes from the traditional tool used to scoop shrimp out of shallow water grass flats by individual shrimpers. Hand nets have been in use for centuries and traditional "push" nets can still be found in use along the French and British coasts as well as parts of New England.
- A mechanical variation on the traditional dip net method is "Ozello shrimping". This technique involves a specialized device that permits recreational shrimpers to selectively catch shrimp along low tidal area zones with minimal tidal force impact. The device utilizes a string activated trap that opens and closes a trap door to contain individual shrimp for capture. Unlike traditional dip nets, the device does not require recreational shrimpers to bend over or filter through bycatchBycatchThe term “bycatch” is usually used for fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish. It may however also indicate untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting...
with their hands nor does it cause ancillary damage to surrounding environments - primarily seagrassSeagrassSeagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
in estuaries. This modern variant of the traditional dip net has been in use throughout the West Coast of Florida for over 20 years and dramatically increases the efficiency and volume of recreational shrimping yields. It has recently been finding its way into Gulf of Mexico coastal communities and SouthEast Asia in both commercial and recreational applications.
In the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
, the shrimp season takes place in the summer months. The timing is generally between late May and early July beginning later and ending earlier the further north along the coast a location is. In the Pacific Coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
, the shrimping takes place in two different time frames depending on area fished with permit's. Recreational shrimping seasons across the United States vary depending on proximity to estuaries and jurisdictional limitation on the recreational shrimping seasons imposed by local, state and federal laws.
Further reading
- Gillett R (2008) Global study of shrimp fisheries FAOFãoFão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
: Fisheries technical paper 475. ISBN 978-92-5-106053-7 - Carolina Watermen by Richard and Barbara Kelly (Blair, 1993)
- FAOFãoFão is a town in Esposende Municipality in Portugal....
: Shrimp otter trawling
External links
- Caught from SCETV's Carolina Stories documentary series