Flexibility of .supply in tho shrirnp industry is largely con- 

 trolled by nature. IVhen demand increases, supply cannot be ac^usted 

 easily. The increased demand can only be met by intensified, and some- 

 times more costly, efforts. 



liihen shrimping was on a small scale, and the industry was more 

 local in character, the fisherman .'idapted his operations to tho nm of 

 the s hrimp on the grounds he custoinarily fished. More recently, the 

 fisherman has striven to overcome limitations of supply by following the 

 shTimp nins. Thus, by shifting from one base to another, he has tried 

 to evade the lox^js of seasonal fluctuations. Similarly, he has taken 

 advantage of tho nei;ly discovered beds in the Gulf of Mexico to extend 

 his operations to off-shore waters. 



In some vrays, the attempts to overcorae shortages of supply 

 have added to, rather than subtracted from, the problems of the fisherman. 

 The introduction of larger boats has increased the cost of production as 

 well as the investment in vessel and gear. Specialized equipment of 

 trawler boats has enhanced the efficiency of the vessels. On the other 

 hand, it has aJ-so decreased the potential use of the vessels for other 

 operations and thus added to the risks the boat ovmer has to assume. 

 More labor is needed to man the boats vjhich sometimes operates to re- 

 duce the share of earnings to the individual fishennan. The shift from 

 a fixed domicile to a migratory existence has frequently disrupted the 

 ties of the fisherman iri.th his local environment and thus reduced his 

 economic and social stability. On the whole, however, the fisherman 

 has profited from the expansion of supply. 



A distinction must be made between an extension of fishing 

 to newly discovered areas and increased operations due to accentuated 

 competition for already exploited resources. The later may result in 

 "over-shrimping" wl:iich more often is an economic, rather than a bio- 

 logical, phenomenon. Characteristically, in over-shrimping, more boats 

 are added to the fishing fleets, the number of trips is increased, and 

 idle time in the harbors is shortened. Thus, more boats, fishing with 

 increased intensity, compete for the available supply at any given 

 point. The stepped-up fishing activities may not lead to a permanent 

 reduction in the total stock of shrimp in the sea; but the productivity 

 of individual vessels is adversely affected. 



The tendency to overfish frequently is characteristic of 

 periods of adverse market conditions. It then becomes evident that the 

 shriirper has little cominand over the marketable supply. Instead of 

 adjusting their catches to the shrinking demand, the fishermen as a 

 group tend to intensify their fishing effort and increase their catches 

 to compensate for the lower prices and declining revenue, thus adding 

 to the surplus and aggravating the market depression. In recent years 

 this tendency has been reinforced by the change in the scale of opera- 

 tions in the shrijiip fishery. Production on a larger scale has in- 

 creMsed fixed costs of oparation and is encouraging a pattern under 

 which the operator is forced to continue fishing as long as out-of- 

 pocket expenses are recovered. With the inception of year-round 



ll? 



