BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 203 



Such production potentials are not uncommon among marine Crustacea. 

 Depletion of the population by natural causes is, of course, great, and 

 shrimps are a highly prized food item of fish as well as man. The relation- 

 ships between the various stages and their environments are complex. Quan- 

 titative analysis of these relationships has not been attempted, and is, indeed, 

 at the present time, impossible. 



LEGISLATION AND REGULATION 



The regulations specifically governing the shrimp fishery in North Caro- 

 lina limit the size of nets used to 50 yards in length and ^ inch bar mesh 

 in the counties of New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender. In all other coun- 

 ties, bar measure must be at least % inch. The length of the trawling day is 

 designated, it being illegal to trawl from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. or on 

 Sundays (N. C. Dept. Conserv. & Develop., 1948). In February, 1950, a 

 closed season from January i to July i was imposed on the shrimp fishery. 



The literature reveals no indication of danger to the species. Indeed, 

 Anderson, Lindner, and King (1949) assert that ''in the states for which 

 there are records complete to the present time it is impossible to detect 

 what might be called 'definite signs of depletion' of the resource." At the 

 present time the various important relationships between the shrimp and its 

 environment are too little understood to offer a program of management. 

 Such a program can be derived only from quantitative studies of production 

 potentials, predation rates, food requirements, and population studies of the 

 shrimp and its predators. Fisheries management programs not based upon 

 such knowledge tend to confuse the general picture and may delay the 

 eventual enlightenment which leads to intelligent utilization of a natural 

 resource. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Anderson, A. W., and E. A. Power. 



1949. Fishery Statistics of the United States, 1945. U. S. Fish & Wildlife 

 Service, Statistical Digest No. 18 (1949), 372 p., (pictorial section, 



p. 355-372). 

 Anderson, W. W., M. J. Lindner, and J. E. King. 



1949. The shrimp fishery of the southern United States. U. S. Fish & Wild- 

 life Service, Commercial Fisheries Review, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1949, 

 p. 1-17. 

 Bumpus, D. F., and T. J. Wehe. 



1949. Hydrography of the western Atlantic. Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution, Reference 49-6, 1949 (technical report). 

 Burkenroad, M. D. 



1934. The Penaeidae of Louisiana with a discussion of their world rela- 

 tionships. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 68, 1934, p. 61-143. 



