White shrimp 



Penaeus setiferus 

 Adult 



(from Perez-Farfante 1969) 



Common Name: white shrimp 

 Scientific Name: Penaeus setiferus 

 Other Common Names: Blue shrimp, blue-tailed 

 shrimp, common shrimp, Daytona shrimp; gray shrimp, 

 green shrimp, green-tailed shrimp, lake shrimp, rain- 

 bow shrimp, southern shrimp (Perez-Farfante 1969, 

 Lindner and Cook 1 970, Motoh 1 977, McKenzie 1 981 , 

 Muncy 1984); crevette ligubam du nord (French), 

 camaron bianco norteno (Spanish) (Fischer 1978, 

 NOAA1985). 



Classification (Williams et al. 1989) 

 Phylum: Arthropoda 

 Class: Crustacea 



Order: Decapoda 



Family: Penaeidae 



Value 



Commercial : Shrimping has been ranked as the sec- 

 ond most valuable commercial fishery in the U.S., and 

 seventh in quantity (NMFS 1993). U.S. landings of all 

 shrimp species combined in the Gulf of Mexico were 

 1 00.7 thousand mt in 1 992, and were valued at $316.6 

 million. Total U.S. white shrimp harvest in the Gulf of 

 Mexico was 32,012 mt in 1991, and white shrimp 

 typically comprise 31% of the total Gulf of Mexico 

 shrimp landings (NOAA 1 993). White shrimp were the 

 targeted species in the U.S. shrimp fishery until the 

 mid-1 930's; other species were darker and not as 

 marketable. The species is fished for throughout the 

 nearshore Gulf of Mexico and along the southeast U.S 

 Atlantic coast. Maximum catches in the Gulf occur 

 along the Louisiana coast west of the Mississippi Delta 

 (Christmas and Etzold 1977). Catches of young-of- 

 the-year shrimp occur almost entirely during summer 

 and fall, while the spring white shrimp fishery consists 

 of adults that have overwintered in the estuaries (Christ- 



mas and Etzold 1 977, Nance et al. 1 991 ). The Gulf of 

 Mexico white shrimp fishery is considered fully ex- 

 ploited, and a longterm potential annual yield of 34,403 

 mt has been estimated (NOAA 1993). It has been 

 suggested that commercial harvest has reached a 

 point at which overfishing can occur (Nance and Nichols 

 1988, Nance 1989). There is also a bait fishery for 

 white shrimp throughout the bays and nearshore wa- 

 ters from June to October. This catch, as well as most 

 of the commercial catch, is obtained using otter trawls. 

 Federal and some state laws may require the use of 

 Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) on shrimp trawls, but 

 bait shrimpers (catch <16 kg/day, trawl <10.7 m) may 

 be exempt from these regulations (Nance pers. comm.). 

 Other methods include haul seines and cast, butterfly, 

 drop, push, and channel nets (Eldridge and Goldstein 

 1975, Eldridge and Goldstein 1977). White shrimp 

 form the mainstay for the Texas commercial bay fish- 

 ery (Christmas and Etzold 1977). They also form an 

 important part of the catch in Alabama where it is one 

 of the primary species harvested for bait (Swingle 

 1 972). Highest catches occur in fall months using otter 

 trawls. 



Recreational : Recreational shrimping has become in- 

 creasingly popular along the Gulf coast in recent years 

 (Christmas and Etzold 1977). Fishermen use small 

 trawls for the most part, but seines, cast nets, and push 

 nets are used as well. Approximately 4,000 mt (heads 

 on) of total shrimp (brown, pink, and white) were taken 

 by recreational shrimpers in 1 979 in Texas and Louisi- 

 ana. Regulations pertaining to licensing and geartype 

 vary among the Gulf states, and catches are limited by 

 location and season of fishing (GMFMC 1981). 



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