CHAPTER 12 



The Shrimp Fishery 



C. p. Idyll 



Commercially Important Species 



All the species of shrimp of commercial importance in the southern 

 fishery belong to the tropical and temperate water family Penaeidae. In 

 the South all sizes are called shrimp, while in some other areas the large 

 varieties are called prawns, and the smaller shrimp, especially the north- 

 ern species which belong to the family Pandalidae, are called shrimp. 



Prior to about 1948 over 90 per cent of the shrimp produced in the 

 United States were white shrimp, Penaeus setiferus. These are usually 

 found in shallow water, and the fishery took place largely in bays and 

 other inshore areas less than 15 fathoms in depth. Louisiana has always 

 been the center of the white shrimp fishery; about half the catch of this 

 species has come from there in recent years. 



In the late 1940's large quantities of two other species, the brown 

 shrimp, P. aztecus, and the pink shrimp, P. duorarum, began to be caught. 

 It was discovered that these ' 'grooved shrimp" could be caught in much 

 larger quantities at night than in the daytime. This was followed by the 

 opening of new grounds off Texas, Alabama, Florida, and Mexico and 

 then to the development of markets for the new varieties, whose appear- 

 ance was unfamiliar to the public. In 1959 brown shrimp were landed 

 in larger quantities than other varieties, with the biggest production 

 coming from Texas. White shrimp occupied second place and pinks 

 third. Most of the latter species were landed in Florida, from the Tortugas 

 grounds west of Key West and from the Campeche grounds off the 

 Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. 



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