MFR REPRINT 965 Figure 1.-Adult northern men. T oday it is a major species fished shrimp from the Gulf of Maine. Drawing by Frank throughout the year. Expansion of this A . Bailey. fishing occurred at a time when other fi sheries in New England were declining. It has generated a need for new proces sing plants, new boats , and has substan tially increased employment. Maine has been the traditional center of this fish ery and remains so today.
NOTES ON BIOLOGY
Some of the more important biologi cal c haracteristics of the north ern shrimp's life cycle are diametrical ly opposite to those of the southern commercial shrimp (genus Panaeus). Southern shrimp (Penaeus) spawn in offshore waters; the eggs are broadcast free into [he sea where they drift, without parental care until they hatch. Average number of eggs per clutch is Biologically, the northern shrimp 500,000 to 1,000,000. They begin life as differs drastically from the southern male or female and complete their life shrimp which makes up most of the U.S. catch. cycle without change. Young stages migrate to the bayous and other estu arine areas where they pass their early life. When they attain moderately large size they migrate to offshore waters and Fishery for Northern Shrimp, spawn. Life span of most species of Panda/us borealis, in the Gulf of Maine penaeid shrimp is roughly one year. No rthern shrimp spawn in offshore waters and attach the eggs to the pleo pods where they are protected until they hatch. Average number of eggs per ROLAND L. WIGLEY clutch is 800 to 3,400. They are protan dric hermaphrodites, functioning first as males. Larval stages develop in coast al waters. Juvenile and young adult ABSTRACT stages move to offshore waters as they grow larger. When they become egg A fishery for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine has grown rapidly during the bearing females they migrate to coastal last decade to become one of the most l'aluable fisheries in Nell' England. American waters during the egg maturation period. landings of this shrimp in th e period J 962 to J 972 increased from ]88, 000 pounds to Life span of northern shrimp in the Gulf 24,295,000 pounds; correspondingly, value increased from $57, 000 to $4,557, 000. of Maine is four to five years. Trends in the total catch of northern shrimp in the past f e ll' years, plus decreased Northern shrimp is a cold-water spe catch per unit effort during the past year, indicate that maximum utilization of this cies that occurs in commercial abun stock lI'as allained in J 969. This paper briefly rel'ie ws the history and development dance in northern regions of both the of the fishel}', landings, I'esseltypes and gear, processin g, and recent development North Pacific and North Atlantic in the fishery. Oceans. In the North Pacific it is fished commercially in continental shelf waters of both the Asiatic and North American INTRODUCTION eral decades and during the last decade continents. In the North Atlantic it is it has developed into one of the most fished in many areas, such as the Barents Northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis, valuable fisheries in New England. Sea, off Scandinavia, British Isles, Ice- (Figure 1) is a medium-sized species that Vessels from Maine, New Hampshire, is commerciall y abundant in North Pa and Massachusetts land ed a total of 24 Roland L. Wigley is a scientist on cific and North Atlantic waters. This million pounds of northern shrimp in the staff of the NMFS Northeast species has supported a small fishery 1969. This fishery started as an off-sea Fisheries Center, Woods Hole, along the southern Maine coast for sev- son fill-in for herring and lobster fisher- Mass.
9 land, southern Greenland. Newfound east o f ape nn, Ma\~ac hu \ct t s. hl \ \Ulllptl(1I1 and home·canning. f'urther land, and the Canadian Maritimes. The work was conducted aboard th c n.: more a I1wior oUlkt opened when a Gulf of Maine population i the south search vessel 111/(/111/1. In coop 'ratlon UlIllIllCITI
10 News Service reports issued by the U. S. 71· 70· 69· 6S· 67· 66· 65· Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, as summarized and reported by Apol 45· I 45· ,I lonio and Dunton (1969). Although there may be some complicating factors M A N E I negating the validity of these types of ,I data, because of the so-called "learning I, factor", improvements in fishing gear, I etc., it is the best information avail 44· BOOTHBAY, HARBOR •• able that reveals trends in abundance I NEW HARBOR of this stock. Also, the possible compli , cati ons appear to be minor in compari son to the substantial changes in catch. I ./ I I, Catch rates in 1964 averaged 1,128 \... J / \. -' 43· N. H. / ) GULF OF MAINE '" 43· pounds per trip, based on 189 fi shing / ( "" / '- trips. During the subsequent four years ---_/ • GLOUCESTER '- "- ,/ the fishing effort and catch rate in ~ creased rather steadily each year. In '- 1968 the catch rate averaged 3,661 pounds per trip, based on 914 trips. One / 42· of the more interesting as pects of this r' catch-effort trend is the increased catch r- rate in the face of enormous increases '\ r OO t>- ~ I<. GEORGES in total landings. Total landings in \.. creased from 213,210 pounds in 1964 4 1· 41· to 3,346,500 pounds in 1968. The sub I I • stantially larger catches per unit effort 71· 70· 69· 6S· 67· 66· 65· each year during the time peri od evalu ated, in spite of a continually mounting Figure 2.-Gulf of Maine region showing some of the principal shrimp-landing ports of increase in total effort and removals, New England. is sound evidence of marked increases landings that began in 1962- 1965 period index of abundance. A ·'trip" for small in abundance of shrimp. and reached a peak of 28 million pounds or medium shrimp boats operating in in 1969. Concurrently several fin fish coastal Maine waters has traditionally SIZE OF SHRIMP eri es ( ea herring, sIlver hake, haddock) been one day of fishing. In Table 2 are were declining; thus there were vessels listed the fishing effort and landings for In thy early yef:lfs of the Gulf of Maine and crews available that could quickly the fl eet operating in the vicinity of shrimp fish~ry only the large egg-bear convert from finfi hing to shrimping. Portl and , Maine. The number of pounds ing females were caught. These are the Also noteworthy are the four years of shrimp caught per trip averaged over oldest and largest members of the popu 1954- 1957 during whi ch no hrimp were a I-year period is the index of abun lation, usually egg-bearing fem ales that landed, even though ubstantial demand dance. These data are based on Market migrate into coastal waters during the existed throughout the entire peri od.
The smaller total catch during the past ~~------~---~-----~ three years suggests that the approxi ,. mate maximum harvest of this stock has NORTHERN SHRIMP 2'+------~--~~--~~~~-~ been attained. The rapidity with which ~ Z this fishery was established attests to ::> ~ zo+------_--~~--~----_+ the demand for shrimp by the con o r sumer. / '"z I o 15+------3 TRENDS IN ABUNDANCE i ~'" 10+------Trends in the actual abundance of isz :'l the Gulf of Maine shrimp stock may +------~ ------be judged from changes in catch per unit of effort. A comparison of the num ber of pounds of shrimp landed by the '94' ,.,;0 1955 '960 1965 1970 1972 same group of vessels on a per-trip ba VI AR S sis over a period of years provides an Fig ure 3.-U .S. landings and value of northern shrim p from the Gulf of Maine, 1945 to 1972.
11 final tage of the egg maturation period . Table 3. - Number of shrimp vessels in New In recent years some specialized ves- England, listed according to state and size, The} generall y ra nge in s ize (to ta l for years 1964-1970 (from Bruce, 1971 ). els have joined the fleet; a few were length: a measured from the tip of the con tructed specificall y for G ulf of ro trum to poste rior end of the telson) M assac husetts Maine shrimping. In addition, several from 4% inches to 7 ~ inches. Average Gulf of Mexico shrimp trawlers have Year Lar ge' Small2 Larg e Small Total length , whi ch of course vari es according been bro ught to New England. They are to season, location, etc., is approxi 1964 17 12 2 32 characterized by their broad beam, large 19 6 5 18 16 3 38 mately 6 inches. Average weight of a 196 6 16 13 10 40 boom, and a wheelh ouse located well \\ hole hrimp is slightly less tha n ~ an 1967 44 23 2 1 8 9 forward. One or two Gulf of Mexico 1968' ounce. 196 9 89 13 4 4 0 2 26 5 shrimper have retained their o utriggers hrimp landed in more recent years 1970 96 19 1 46 3 3 3 6 that permit trawling with two nets simul are belie\ ed to have been significantly taneo u ly . ome of the newer vessels ' Any vessel built p ri m a rily fo r dragg ing o r o th smaller than those taken in earlier year er fi she ry than Insh o re lo bsterlng also have cooking, chilling, or freezing of the fi her} (a de cribed above). 2Lo b ste r bo ats facilities a board. , An accu rat e cou nt o f the numbe r o f v e ssels Changes in the geogra phical areas fi shed l o r 19 68 IS not avail a ble For de tailed information on shrimp in recent years could account for part vessels, the reader is referred to the sev eral a rticles in the publi cations spon of the ize cha nge. Small er hrimp of hauler for hauling in the shrimp net. ored by the Federal-Provincial At saleable size, that is the male a nd tran Other lo bster boats were more elabo lantic Fisheries Committee (197 1). sitional-stage shrimp (as well as females) rately modified with a winch, gantry or inhabit deeper, offshore parts of the gall ows fr ame, or large boom, etc., Gulf of Maine. ow that larger ves el for side trawling or stern trawling. An FISHING GEAR are engaged in hrim ping the re is a example of a modified lobster boat is trong likelihood that small e r shrimp shown in Figure 4. Customarily, all The otter trawl is the standard gear are caught. o me of whic h are landed. small and mode rately small vessels used in the northern shrimp fishery in Othe r change in fi hing practice , uc h make dail y exc ursion to the fishing the Gulf of Maine. Several sizes and as the use of smaller mesh nets, smaller grounds a nd re turn to po rt in the styles of trawls are in common usage, c ull Size, year-round fi shing, could re aft ernoon with the c atc h. Only the depending largely o n the vessel size, sult in the catchi ng a nd utilizati on of larger, off shore vessels stay a t sea for the experi ence of the crew with speci mail er shrimp. seve ral days at a time. fi c nets and their results, type of bottom Another common type of vessel e n on the fishing grounds, and other related VESSELS gaged in shrimping is the small or medi factors . One of the most commonly um-s ize trawl e r (dragger) , suc h as those used nets is the "50-70 trawl". T his i a \ essels c urre ntly e ngaged in the G ulf shown in Figure 5. The e are sid e trawl standard New England 2-seam trawl of \-l aIn e hrimp fi shery inc lude a rath e r e rs that were forme rl y used in the whit having a 50-foot head rope and a 70-foot \\ Ide \ ari et} of tyles a nd sizes. Inas ing fi shery or for oth er groundfish spe groundro pe. Larger or small er versions mu.: h as the fi shery started a a mall c ies. Commonly they are wooden ves of this net are used, but the 20-foot (lff-season e nte rprise, it is to be ex pected sels 50 to 75 feet long a nd o pe rated by a thilt the \ es els used wo uld be tho e c rew of three or fo ur me n. They re Figure 4 .- Maine lobster boat modi lied with gal used In other fi sheries. Most vessels lows frames and boom for stern tra wling for quired virtuall y no modifications for shrimp. Photograph courtesy of Robert A . e ngaged In this fi shery during it devel shrimp fi shing. Bruce. o pme ntal stages (and still in use) were lobster boats. Characte ristic all y, the \ laIne lobster boat is a wooden vessel in the .10-40 foot le ngth clas having the \\ heelhouse approximately amid sh ip a nd an open cockpit aft. Modifi c,lt l(ms of these boat for hrimping \\ ere, in s()me case, very mode t. Mini m,1 1 ( hanges req Ui red the use of the pot-
Table 2.-Annual esllm ates of catch per unit effort b ased on shr imp landings at Portland, M aine. Irom 1964 through 1968 (from Apollo nlo a nd D unton. 1969).
To tal Average Trips landings landings per ' no l (pou nds) triP I po unds)
189 2 13.2 10 1 128 4 1 8 6 9. 800 2, 076 852 1 572 6 00 2 412 859 2 4 26 ,800 2, 825 9 14 3.346500 3 .661 Shrimp pots, which are stati onary At other times they pack them in ice baited traps, are relatively new to th e in wooden boxes. G ulf of Maine region. Those th at are Processing firm at the major hrimp being tried have various shapes and ports have automatic cleaning. peeling. sizes, but for simplicity in con tructi on, cooking, a nd freezing equipment. they are frequently rectangular in shape, Firms that were engaged in processing have a slot for an entry- way, have an shrimp in Main e during 1969 are Ii ted internal weight to serve as an anchor, in Table 5. For additional information and are constructed of wire hardw are pertaining to shrimp processing and cloth. Pots are baited with fish, such marketing the reader is referred to the as herring, and set and buoyed individ reports by Whitaker (197 1a and 1971bl. ually or in strings (groups). Perhaps Table 4.- United States annu al land i ngs of the most promising as pect of the pot northern shrimp by m o nt hs, 1 965-196 9 (from method of taking shrimp is its use in Whitake r, 1971). (weight in thousa nds of pounds, Figure 5.- Typical side trawlers used for rocky, untrawlable bottoms. whole shrimp). shrimping, as well as for fishing whiting and o t h Month 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 er groundfish, in the western Gulf of Maine. Pho tography courtesy of Robert Bruce. January 344 360 1,002 1,723 3 ,694 PROCESSING THE CATCH February 731 1,212 1.64 7 3 .074 6 .078 March 905 2.019 3 ,161 5 .074 9 ,120 April 50 60 571 1,855 2.621 Sub.stantial differences in size of ves May 7 103 67 sels in the shrimp fl eet and attendant June 209 July 155 differences in fishing proced ures has August 36 113 created a vari ety of handling and pro September 102 341 cessing procedures aboard ship and in October 303 491 November 2 65 563 400 the processing plants ashore. Further December 4 5 179 472 1,532 946 more, since some dealers and proces sors prefer cooked shrimp, this has Table 5.- List of shrimp proc eSSing com panie s that were operating in M aine in 196 9 (from Whit added another dimension to the proces aker 1971 ). sing procedure. At present there are Bath Canning-Prospect Harbor-Raw meats. four major categories of processed raw headless Belfast Canning Co.-Prospect Harbor- Raw shrimp with a seemingly endless number meats of combinations. T he fo ur categories Windjammer Sea Farming Corp-Eastport Figure 6.- Transf erring shrimp from the d eck are: -Peeled. raw (canned natural) to the storage hold of a med i um- s i ze s hri mp A . M Look Canning Co-East Machias-DIp trawler. Photograph c ou r tesy of W a r ren J . (canned. and natural) Rathjen. 1. w hole or headless Three Rivers Fish Co.-Jonesport-Raw meats 2. cooked or uncooked Brown Fish Company-Portland-Raw meats 3 . peeled or unpeeled Central Wharf Fisheries, Inc -Portland- Raw difference in headrope-footrope length 4. raw o r frozen meats is usually maintained. Netting is most Eastern Fish Company-Portland-Raw meats Mid-Central Fish Company-Portland-Raw often made of nylon or polyethylene Aboard the larger vessels the catch meats, raw headless of 2-inch (stretch measure) in the wings is dumped on a sorting table where fin Stinson Canning Co.-Prospect Harbor- Raw meats and square, 1% inch mesh in the cod fi sh, mollusks, other invertebrates, and F. J . O 'Hara and Sons, InC.-Rockland- Raw end. Rollers on the footrope are em bottom debris are removed. Generally meats, raw headless Royal River Packing Co.-Yarmouth-Raw ployed when fi shing rough bottom areas; the catch is fairly clean and does not meats, raw headless chain-rigged footropes are used on require a large amount of work ob Scandia Seafood Company, InC.-Bailey Island smooth bottoms. Rectangular otter taining a clearl y sorted catch. When the -Cooked whole Malpeque Shrimp, Ltd .-Boothbay Harbor doors 5-7 feet in length (depending on fishery was strictl y a winter activity, -Cooked whole size of trawl net) and a short ground the low temperature retarded spoilage, Maine Biological Supply & Development Corp.-Brunswick-Raw meats cable are customarily used. which eliminated the need to cook Maine Lobster Company-Portland-Raw Small vessels use a rather greater vari shrimp aboard ship or to pack it in ice meats Maine Crabmeat Company-Portland-Raw ety of styles of otter trawls. Many are for the short time at sea. In more re meats modifi cations of fish trawls that are on cent years, as the fishi ng season has Gulf of Maine, Inc-Portland-Raw meats. hand, others are specifically designed extended through the warm season (see breaded Paul Bayley Seafoods Company-Scarboro fo r shrimp fishi ng by an individual fish Tabl e 4), some vessels have adopted -Raw meats, raw headless erman fo r a particular locality or to be the practice of boiling whole shrimp in Port Lobster Company-Kennebunkport - Raw meats accommodated by a particular vessel. a brine solution. Other vessels pack Rockland Shrimp Corp -Rockland-Cooked Semi-ball oon trawls, used for shrimp raw, whole shrim p in ice, to be proc whole Mill Cove Lobster Co. No. 2. -Southport ing in the Gulf of Mexico, hav e;. been essed (possibly peeled, cooked or fro -Cooked whole used. Also, the 4-seam trawl, which has zen) at the facili ties in port. Smaller Atwood Brothers. Inc.-St George-Cooked boats store the shrimp on deck without headless raw meats an especially high headrope height, Mill Cove Lobster Co No 1 1- Trevett- Raw has been used successfully. icing, when weather conditions permit. meats
13 ment of Sea and Shore Fisheries, Fishenes RECENT TRENDS IN also leveling out, at $4.5 milli on an Research Stallon, West Boothbay Harbor, THE FISHERY nuall y. Les well documented are de Maine. creases in catch per unit effort and an Bruce, R. A. 1971. The ew England Shnmp Fishery. in Proceedings, Conference on the Some of the more important trends equall y discouraging decrea e in the Canadian Shrimp Fishery, p. 257-274, Can. size of shrimp landed. Fish. Repl. No. 17. in the northern shrimp fishery in the Federal·Provincial Atlantic Fisheries Com Gulf of Maine pertain to the fleet and Although the bulk of each year's millee. 1971. Proceedings, Conference on th e to the shrimp catch. In regard to the landings is caught during the later win anadian Shrimp Fishery. Canadian Fish. ter and early spring, there is a trend Repl. 0. 17, May 1971 , Department of Fish fleet, the trend is toward larger ve sels, e ri es and Forestry, Ollawa, Canada, p. I-SOl. especially designed and equipped for of increased fishing during the warm Haynes, E. B., and R. L. Wigley. 1969. Biology seasons of the year (Table 4). of the onhern Shnmp, Pandalus borealis, shrimping. Shrimp vessel capable of In the Gulf of Maine. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. operating farther offshore and during Assuming the future demand for 98:6().76. shrimp remain high, it can be antic Scallergood, L. W. 1952. The orthern Shnmp the warmer seasons of the year are be Fishery of Maine Co",m. Fish. Rev. 14( I ,. coming particularly more numerous ipated that mall shrimp will make up a 1·16. in the fleet operating out of G lou larger proportion of the catch. Whitaker, D. R. 1971a. The New England ~hnmp In<.lu'tr~ In. Pnx;"c<.llng" Confer' cester, Massachusetts. REFERENCES ence on the Canadian Shrimp Fishery, pages Total landings, as shown in Table 1 4.1.1·440, an. Fish. Repl. No. 17 and Figure 3, are leveling out at roughly Apollonio, S., and E. Dunton. 1969. The 1971b. Trends in the United States Northern Shrimp, Pandalus borealis, in the Shrimp Fishery. in Proceedings, Conferences 24 million pounds per year. Corre pond Gulf of Maine. Project Completion Report, on the anadian Shrimp Fishery, pages 397- ingly, the value of shrimp landings i Project 3-12-R, Public Law 88-309. Depart· 425, Can. Fi h. Repl. No. 17
MFR Reprint 965. From Marine Fisheries Review, Vol. 35, Nos. 3-4. Copies of this reprint, in limited numbers, are available from 083, Technical Information Division, Environmental Science Information Center, NOAA, Washington, DC 20235.
just over 3 million acres: half umege Gulf Estuaries Studied tated, and half occupied by mangroves, tidal marshes and submerged vegeta tion. These e tuaries are drowned river valley, resulting from melting polar ice caps during the current interglacial stage. The great shrimp nursery grounds in biological studies of plant and animal The hydrology of the estuaries is di - the estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico are life. Funding wa provided through the cussed from three aspects: stream dis being described in unprecedented detail Commercial Fisheries Research and charge, water temperature and salinity. in a series of publications issued at the Development Act (Public Law 88-309, The impact of these on commercially recommendation of the Gulf States Ma as amended) with which studies in Ala important oysters and clams is dis rine Fisheries Commission. The most bama, Mississippi, and Louisiana were cussed al o. recent such publication to appear is financed in part." The St. Petersburg The economic development of Flori "Cooperative Gulf of Mexico Estuarine Laboratory and the Gulf Coastal Fish da's Gulf coast has resulted in increased Inventory and Study, Florida: Phase I, eries Center, Galveston, Tex., took on human population near its estuaries Area Description," by J. Kneeland the preparation of the parts of the study along with its attendant problems: arti McNulty, William N. Lindall, Jr. , and deali ng with the west coast of Florida ficial fishing reefs, pollution and dredg James E. Sykes. All, at the time the and the Texas coast. ing. Although dredging has come under report was prepared, were members of Published as NOAA T echnical Report legislative control, pollution legislation the NMFS Gulf Coastal Fisheries Cen NMFS CIRC-368, the Florida study has been onl y partially effective and ter Biological Laboratory, St. Peters deals with the vegetation of the coast, much remai ns to be done in this area to burg Beach, Fla. its geology, stream discharge, water preserve the estuarine environment. The object of the study was to de temperature, salinity, oysters and clams, The report carries extensive figures velop realistic comparable appraisals and artificial fishing reefs. Figures and and tables. The entire coast is covered of estuarine resources along the entire charts trace the rise in population in by a series of detailed maps (see Figure coast. "The planners envisioned a broad the area during the past decades, its 1). study that would include physical de econo mic develo pment, and the NOAA Technical Report NMFS scriptions of the estuarine basins and amounts of pollution and dredging. CIRC-368, which consists of 126 pages, waters within them plus comprehensive Florida's Gulf coast estuaries cover is available from the Superintendent of
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