"Our philosophy for management of the shrimp fishery is to get the best yield, biologically, 

 economically and socially, from the crop available." — Mike Street 



is emptied in a single day of fishing." 



The year-round season also allows 

 fishermen to cash in on the pink 

 shrimp that overwinter in the state's 

 sounds and bays. If the winter tem- 

 peratures aren't too cold, a sizable 

 crop of pink shrimp will emerge from 

 the mud when the temperatures turn 

 warm. Shrimpers can net the "pinks" 

 and some extra income in May and 

 early June while they're waiting on the 

 "browns" to grow fat in their nursery. 



Managing for the good of all also 

 means managing areas differently. 

 Street says there is no single overall 

 count range (count is the number of 

 shrimp per pound) for the state's 

 coastal waters. Each area is managed 

 separately according to its capabilities. 

 The DMF doesn't open all its second- 

 ary nursery areas when the shrimp in 

 Pamlico Sound reach 45 count. Instead 

 they sample in all areas and open 

 creeks and bays when the count is right 

 for that area's normal production. 

 Street says the DMF expects 41- to 45- 

 count shrimp from the Pamlico Sound 

 in early summer and 20- to 25-count 

 shrimp in the fall, sometimes larger. 

 Normal production for the New River 

 is 60-count shrimp, while Brunswick 

 shrimping grounds produce 70- to 80- 

 count shrimp. 



Besides predicting the count sizes of 

 shrimp from various coastal waters, 

 the DMF also predicts each year's ex- 

 pected yield of shrimp for the state. 

 The prediction is based on sampling 

 that begins in early May. DMF 

 trawlers are sent to the nursery areas 

 where they take short samples and 

 calculate the catch per minute. "If the 

 catch is hundreds of the one- to three- 

 inch shrimp per minute it will be a 

 good year," Street says. "In a bad year, 

 we may only see ten, fifteen, twenty a 

 minute. Of course there is tremendous 

 variability among different areas. For 

 one nursery 30 per minute may mean a 

 good year, for another area it's prac- 

 tically no shrimp at all." 



Street says this year's crop is run- 

 ning later than usual. DMF samples 

 show smaller shrimp in fewer numbers 

 than last year. A late cold snap in early 

 May that dropped water temperatures 



below 68° F may have damaged this 

 year's crop, Street says. 



Some fishermen grumble that the 

 DMF shrimp prediction affects the 

 prices they receive from seafood 

 dealers. But Street says the prediction 

 can help fishermen decide whether to 

 rig out for shrimping. Street and others 

 say the price of fuel is causing many 

 fishermen to think twice about trawl- 

 ing for long hours unless they are cer- 

 tain of a "netted" return — shrimp. 



Management officials feel maintain- 

 ing the nursery areas is vital to the 

 fishery. In the mid-1970s the division 

 closed primary nursery grounds to 

 shrimping to keep fishermen from 

 netting the small, yet unmarketable 

 shrimp and to protect the natural 

 habitat shrimp need to nurture. But 

 Spitsbergen and Street stress that 

 protecting the nursery grounds from 

 fishing isn't enough. Freshwater intru- 

 sion from agriculture and industrial 



development is lowering the salinity in 

 some nursery areas, thus destroying 

 the habitat the shrimp need to survive. 



Street says that while rising costs — 

 especially for fuel — may someday 

 make shrimping prohibitive for some 

 fishermen, the fishery cannot be over- 

 fished. He explains that shrimp are an 

 annual crop. They are born and they 

 die in a year's span. The survivors of 

 this year's crop — those not netted by 

 fishermen or killed by natural causes — 

 return to the ocean to spawn next 

 year's shrimp. "Trillions of tiny larvae 

 are spawned annually and ninety-nine 

 percent die naturally," Street says. 

 "As long as the shrimp can spawn in 

 reasonably clean waters, come through 

 a sound that is reasonably clean to a 

 nursery areas to grow that has the en- 

 vironmental conditions they need, 

 there will be shrimp." 



—Kathy Hart 



Fishermen on management 



At the request of the Division of Marine Fisheries, Maiolo and Bort 

 asked fishermen about the agency's management efforts. They surveyed 97 

 full-time commercial shrimpers and 78 part-time commercial shrimpers. 

 Maiolo and Bort asked the fishermen how they would evaluate the assistance 

 provided themselves and other fishermen by DMF personnel. "The results are 

 surprisingly favorable, given the fact that such agencies are usually the target 

 for everything that goes wrong," Maiolo says. 



all 



fishermen 



full- 

 timers 



part- 

 timers 



poor rating 25% 51% 13% 



satisfactory rating 36% 29% 39% 



high rating 39% 20% 48% 



Maiolo says most of the fishermen who gave DMF a poor rating did so 

 because they felt the agency was not helpful. But when asked about specific 

 DMF policies, most of the shrimpers gave the agency a favorable nod. 



% full-timers % part-timers 



approving approving 



geographical restrictions 



on shrimping 82% 78% 

 restricted seasons 



for shrimp 63% 85% 

 restricted gear 



for shrimp 72% 74% 



