Shrimp 



The shrimp fishery, while producing some 

 poundage the year round, can be considered 

 seasonal. The great bulk of the landings are 

 made during the months of October through 

 January, and the fishery is at low ebb from 

 April through June. Shrimp ranks second in 

 poundage of the Cape Canaveral Area fisheries 

 (4-year average of 1 ,377,650 pounds), exceeded 

 only by black mullet, and first in value (4-year 

 average of $546,71 8)--the dollar value of 

 shrimp is more than the value of all other 

 species combined (tables 4 and 5). Fishing is 

 done from shrimp trawlers employing shrimp 

 or otter trawls. 



Three species of shrimp- -white, brown, and 

 pink--are landed by shrimp vessels fishing in 

 the Cape Canaveral Area. These shrimp are 

 all members of genus Penaeus of the family 

 Penaeidae. On the east coast of Florida the 

 white shrimp is of greatest importance and 

 comprises about 80 percent of the landings; 

 brown shrimp account for about 19 plus per- 

 cent; and pink shrimp for probably less than 

 1 percent. In the Cape Canaveral Area the 

 percentage of white shrimp is at least this 

 high, and perhaps higher. 



Bureau of Commercial Fisheries research 

 has provided a great deal of knowledge about 

 the biology of the white shrimp. A resume 

 based on Anderson (1958b) and Lindner and 

 Anderson (1956) follows. 



(1) Habitat. -- The white shrimp is most 

 aboundant in areas characterized by having 

 an inland, brackish nnarsh connectedby passes 

 with an adjacent shallow, offshore area of 

 relatively high salinity and mud or clay 

 bottoms. 



(2) Spawning . --Eggs are laid directly into 

 the water and are apparently fertilized on 

 emission by spernnatozoa contained in a cap- 

 sule called a spermatophore which the male 

 had attached to the body of the female. A 

 female will produce 500,000 - 1 million eggs 

 at a spawning-- some females probably spawn 

 more than once in a season. Most, if not all, 

 spawning takes place at sea and occurs mainly 

 from late March or early April to the end of 

 September. 



(3) Eggs and larvae . --The eggs are about 

 0.3 mm. in diameter and demersal. Eggs hatch 

 in 20 to 24 hours, and the nauplius emerges 

 and becomes planktonic. Larval development 

 requires from 2 to 3 weeks. After 15 to 20 

 days and two postlarval stages, the young 

 shrimp is only about 5 to 6 mm. long. During 

 this period of early development the young 

 shrimp moves from the saline offshore spawn- 



ing areas to the brackish inside marshes and 

 estuaries--which serve as nursery grounds. 



(4) Young shrimp . --As the young grow, they 

 move from the shallow waters of the marsh 

 into the deeper creeks, rivers, and bays, 

 making their first appearance on the inside 

 fishing grounds in June or July (depending 

 upon the area) when about 50 mm. (about 2 

 inches) long. By July or August they begin to 

 appear in outside waters. 



(5) Growth . --Growth is rapid during spring, 

 summer, and early fall, and slow or negligible 

 during winter. There is evidence that shrimp 

 reach 75 mm. (about 3 inches) in total length 

 approximately 2 months after spawning. A 

 shrimp spawned on May 1 would reach a length 

 of over 150 nnm. (about 6 inches) by November 

 1, grow little over the winter, resume growth 

 in the spring, and be about 178 mm. (7 inches) 

 long by May 1 . It would mature and spawn 

 during the spring season, at about 1 year of 

 age. 



(6) Migrations . --In the south Atlantic area, 

 the bulk of the white shrimp migrate from 

 inshore to offshore waters but do not move 

 into very deep water far from the coast. In- 

 stead, they move parallel to the shoreline with 

 the seasons, nnoving southward during the fall 

 and early winter and northward in late winter 

 and early spring. Hence, many of the shrimp 

 taken in the Cape Canaveral Area during late 

 fall and winter have migrated there fronn the 

 Carolinas, Georgia, and north Florida--and 

 any remaining after the winter move northward 

 again to those areas. 



(7) Longevity .- -Mortality of shrimp is ap- 

 parently high, and the number that live more 

 than 1 year is only a small part of the total 

 population, and probably of minor importance. 

 Some shrimp live as long as 16 months and 

 possibly longer, but as far as the fishery is 

 concerned, the common or white shrimp can 

 be considered an annual. 



King whiting 



The fishery for king whiting is, to a large 

 extent, incidental to the shrimp fishery and 

 therefore seasonal. As with shrimp, the bulk 

 of the landings are made from late fall through 

 the winter and lowest landings occur during 

 spring and summer. King whiting ranks 

 seventh in poundage of the Cape Canaveral 

 fisheries (4-year average of 247,1 00 pounds) 

 and eighth in value (4-year average of $20,951 ), 

 tables 4 and 5. 



We have limited knowledge of the life history 

 of the species--no research has been done in 

 the Cape Canaveral Area on this fish. 



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