53 



Figure 11-1.— U.S. shrimp 

 landings from the Gulf of 

 Mexico, 1960-90, and the parent 

 stock abundance indices for 

 brown, white, and pink shrimp. 



1960 



1965 



1975 



1985 



shrimp 



about 40 feet wide at the mouth, at one 

 time. Widely accepted, this design is now 

 the most common gear on commercial 

 offshore shrimpers. 



Gulf brown and white shrimp catch levels 

 have increased significantly over the past 

 30 years, while pink shrimp catches, stable 

 until about 1985, have declined in recent 

 seasons and are now at an all-time low. 

 Numbers of young shrimp for each species 

 entering the fisheries have generally re- 

 flected catch levels. The commercial 

 shrimp are harvested at maximum levels. 

 The fishery is believed to have more boats 

 and gear than needed, i.e., reducing Fishing 

 effort would not significantly reduce the 

 shrimp catch. But reducing bycatch would 

 help protect finfish. 



The Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery Man- 

 agement Plan regulations restrict shrimp- 

 ing with closures on two shrimping 

 grounds (the "Texas closure" for brown 

 shrimp and a pink shrimp closure off Flor- 

 ida) and with size limits on white shrimp 



caught in Federal offshore waters that are 

 landed in Louisiana. These regulations 

 strive to improve the monetary value of the 

 fishery. 



The number of young brown shrimp pro- 

 duced per parent has increased signifi- 

 cantly, but not for white and pink shrimp. 

 The brown shrimp increase appears re- 

 lated to marsh alterations. Coastal sinking 

 and a sea-level rise in the northwestern Gulf 

 inundates intertidal marshes longer, allow- 

 ing the shrimp to feed for longer periods 

 within the marsh area. In the Gulf, both 

 factors have also expanded estuarine 

 areas, created more marsh edges, and pro- 

 vided more protection from predators. As 

 a result, the nursery function of those 

 marshes has been greatly magnified and 

 brown shrimp production has expanded. 

 However, continued subsidence will lead to 

 marsh deterioration and an ultimate loss of 

 supporting wetlands, and current high fish- 

 ery yields may not be indefinitely sustain- 

 able. 



spiny Lobster 



Annual Florida spiny lobster landings were 

 fairly stable during the 1980's, running 

 about 2,700 t from the Gulf of Mexico, but 

 yielding record landings in 1989 of 3,200 

 t, valued at about $20 million. On Florida's 

 Atlantic coast, landings have averaged 230 



t, valued at $2 million. The fishery is con- 

 sidered "overcapitalized," with about 

 500,000 lobster traps in use. Half that num- 

 ber of traps would provide the same catch. 

 Fishermen use live undersized lobster to 

 bait traps, but owing to a high mortality rate 



