In recording ovarian development, I used 

 four successive stages -- undeveloped, de- 

 veloping, yellow, and ripe -- as described by 

 King (1948). 



Table 1 gives the average monthly surface 

 water temperatures for the indicated sections 

 of the fishing grounds from South Carolina to 

 northeast Florida. 



REVIEW OF THE FISHERY 



Shrimp is the most valuable fishery re- 

 source of the south Atlantic coast of the United 

 States (North Carolina, South Carolina, Geor- 

 gia, and Florida east coast). In 1966, the last 

 year for which complete fishery statistics are 

 available, the exvessel value of shrimp was 

 $10.8 million, or about 40 percent of the $27 

 million exvessel value of all fishery landings 

 in the area. 



Three species of shallow-water penaeid 

 shrimps are of greatest connmercial impor- 

 tance: white shrimp, Penaeus setiferus ; brown 

 shrimp, P. aztecus ; and pink shrimp, _P. 

 duorarunn . White and brown shrimps are 

 taken in commercial quantities in all four 

 States, and pink shrimp only in North 

 Carolina. 



The royal red shrimp, Hymenopenaeus ro- 

 bustus , a deepwater penaeid shrimp, is taken 

 in limited quantities in 274 to 457 m. (150-250 

 fathoms) off St. Augustine, Fla. The 5-year 

 average landing for 1963-67 was only 56,700 

 kilograms (125,000 pounds) of heads- on shrimp 

 per year. 



BCF (Bureau of Con-imercial Fisheries) 

 has reported shrimp landings by species 

 since 1957; consequently trends in species 

 composition can be followed during 1957- 

 66. 



Shrinnp landings for all species combined in 

 the south Atlantic area averaged about 13 

 million kilograms (29 million pounds) of heads- 

 on shrinnp yearly during 1953-57, just under 

 11.3 million kilograms (25 million pounds) in 

 1958-62, and about 9.1 million kilograms (20 

 million pounds) in 1963-67. Thus the annual 

 landings declined about 4 million kilograms 

 (9 million pounds) in less than a decade 

 (fig. 1). 



In the 10-year period 1958-67, for which 

 landings by species are available, average 

 yearly landings of both brown and pink shrimp 

 were about the same in 1963-67 as in 1958-62, 

 but average yearly landings of white shrimp 

 declined more than 1.8 million kilograms (4 

 million pounds) during the second half of the 

 decade (fig. 1 ). 



Year-to-year fluctuations in landings by 

 species and for all species connbined for 



Figure 1. — Yearly average landings of shrimp on south 

 Atlantic coast of the United States by 5-year periods, 

 for all species combined, 1953-67, and for individual 

 species, 1958-67. 



1957-67 (fig. 2) indicate a trend toward steady 

 decline in total shrimp landings. Anderson 

 and Lunz (1965) said, "Yearly fluctuations 

 are not necessarily abnormal for a resource 

 that is now being harvested at near-maximum 

 levels. Rather, they depict changes in abun- 

 dance of fishable stocks available from year 

 to year, and these changes reflect several 

 factors influencing survival of the young -- 

 for we are dealing with a new crop of shrimp 

 each year." 



Trends in annual shrimp landings in 1963-67 

 varied an-iong the different States of the south 

 Atlantic coast (fig. 3). Fluctuations were 

 sinnilar in South Carolina and Georgia, with 

 low landings in 1963 and 1964, a bumper year 

 in 1965, and a large decline in 1966 to a level 

 maintained in 1967. The 1 966-67 landings were 

 greater than those in 1963-64, but in Georgia 

 (the State with the largest production) the 

 high in 1965 was not as pronounced as an 

 earlier peak in I960. The conditions that cause 

 annual fluctuations evidently extend over both 

 South Carolina and Georgia. These two States 

 contain the heart of the nursery grounds in 

 the south Atlantic area. Landings in Florida 

 have been more stable, with slightly higher 

 levels in 1965-67 than in 1963-64. In North 

 Carolina, landings increased steadily from a 

 low in 1963 to a high in 1966, but dropped 

 somewhat in 1967. 



The shrinnp fishery of the south Atlantic 

 coast is highly seasonal; landings are very 

 low from January through May, begin to in- 

 crease in June, and build rapidly to a peak 

 during the summer or fall (figs. 4 and 5). 

 This seasonal trend is followed in catches 

 from each of the States. 



