UNIT 11 

 SOUTHEAST AND CARIBBEAN INVERTEBRATE FISHERIES 



Table 11-1 



Productivity in metric tons 

 and status of Southeast and 

 Carribean invertebrate fish- 

 eries. 



Total 



119,376 



116,575 



120,953 



'1995-97 average for shrimp, 1994-96 average for olfier species 



^Long-term potential of brown, white, and pmk shrimp based upon last observed 10-year average annual yield (1988-97) 



fields based upon commercial catches, recreational catch is unknown but may be significant 



^Yields are in tons of claws; declawed crabs regenerate new claws 



landings from Puerto Rico. Fishing prohibited in Florida 



^oral harvests prohibited except for a small take allowed for use in aquarium and pharmaceutical industries 



and the greatest concentration ot pink shrimp is 

 off southwestern Florida. In the South Atlantic, 

 white shrimp landings are about 21% of their Gulf 

 counterparts, while brown and pink shrimp are 

 around 6% of the Gulf yield. Current, recent, and 

 long-term potential yields tor these species are 

 given in Table 11-1. 



Gull brown and white shrimp catches in- 

 creased significantly from the late 1 9S0"s to around 

 1990, with the most recent years showing a slight 

 decrease from these maximum values. Pink shrimp 

 catches were stable until about 1985; then they 

 declined and were at an ail time low in 1990. In 

 recent years the catches have started to increase 

 and are slightly above average levels. The num- 

 bers ot young shrimp for each species entering the 

 fisheries have generally reflected the level ot catch. 

 All commercial shrimps are harvested at m,iximum 

 levels. The fishery is believed to have more boats 

 and gear than needed (i.e. reducing tlshing effort 

 would not significantly reduce the shrimp catch) 

 (Nance, 1993a and 1997). Reducing the bycatch 

 ot the shrimp industry, however, would help pro- 

 tect tinfish resources. 



Recruitment overfishing has not been evident 



Landings 

 (« 1,000 t) 



Spiny lobster 



65 



Year 



in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp stocks (Klima et al., 

 1990; Nance, 1993b). The number ot young 

 brown shrimp produced per parent increased sig- 

 nificantly until about 1991 and has remained near 



Figure 11-2 



Landings of stone crab (claw 

 weight) and spiny lobster, 

 1960-96, in metric tons (t). 



1 45 



