Bullis (1956) described the results of these explorations aa 

 follows : 



"The first catches of Royal Red slirijiip in tha Gulf 

 were made while the "Oregon" vjas priiaarily engaged in 

 explorations for brovm-grooved shrimp, Penaeus aztecus. 

 In July 1950, a series of trawling stations was made 

 off the Mississippi Delta, in increasing depth inter- 

 vals beyond the limits of the continental shelf. At 

 that time, small numbers of Royal Red shrimp ware 

 taken in depths of 190 to 232 fathoms. During the 

 follo\/ing four years, which were primarily devoted to 

 exploration for shallower-water shrin^p and for tuna, a 

 short period of each traxjling cruise was spent on ad- 

 ditional deep-water dragging. By the end of 195U, ex- 

 ploratory coverage of the 100-to 300-fathom range in 

 the eastern Gulf between the Mississippi Delta and Key 

 VJest, and along the Texas Coast vias extensive, viith 

 limited vjork carried out to depths of ^00 fathoms. 

 Only scattered drags were made off Louisiana, the 

 Gampeche Banks, and in the Gulf of Campeche. 



"In 19^5... a series of cinu-ses were programmed for 

 the "Oregon" to provide a more comprehensive picture 

 of the commercial potentialities of Royal Red shrimp.... 

 In March 19^5, a series of 3k trawling stations were 

 made in depths of I60 to 270 fathoms between the 

 Mississippi Delta and Cape San Bias, Florida. In July, 

 roxind-tho-clock trawling v/as attempted in depths of 

 190 to 300 fathoms south and southeast of Dry Tortugas.... 

 Follov7ing this work, some exploration of the 200-fathan 

 depth range was carried out on the eastern end of 

 Nicolas Channel along the north coast of Cuba, and in 

 the Straits of Florida off Key Largo, In September, 

 exploratory coverage was extended along the Louisiana 

 Coast.... Dviring the last half of the cruise, the Delta 

 to Cape San Bias area vfas revrorked using 80-foot balloon 

 trawls .... 



"The distributional picture that emerged from this 

 work showed Royal Red shrimp to be present throughout 

 the Gulf of Mexico on all types of bottom in a depth 

 range of 190 to 270 fathoms, with a maximum range of 

 1^0 to liOO fathoms," 



Comraercial operations for Royal Red shrinip in the Gulf of Mexico 

 on an experimental basis vjere conducted in September 19^2 and throughout 

 most of 1956. Royal Red shrimp catches of commercial significance, 

 according to Bullis (19^6), wore restricted, for the most part, to two 

 well-defined areas: off Dry Tortugas and east of the Mississippi Delta 

 (see figures I - 11 and I - 12). 



35 



