Shrimp fishery

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Shrimp trawler preparing to set gear off the coast of Oregon West Coast Shrimp Trawler, "Wrangler".jpg
Shrimp trawler preparing to set gear off the coast of Oregon

The shrimp fishery is a major global industry, with more than 3.4 million tons caught per year, chiefly in Asia. Rates of bycatch are unusually high for shrimp fishing, with the capture of sea turtles being especially contentious.

Contents

A shrimper is a fishing vessel rigged for shrimp fishing.

Nomenclature

The term shrimp, as used by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), covers all shrimp (Caridea) and prawns (Dendrobranchiata, comprising Penaeoidea and Sergestoidea) – a group formerly known as "Natantia". [1] This nomenclature often differs from local use, in which the same species may be known by different names, or where different species may be known by the same name. [2]

History

A traditional push net, to be operated by hand near the coast. In use in The Netherlands up to 1955. Garnalenschuifnet.jpg
A traditional push net, to be operated by hand near the coast. In use in The Netherlands up to 1955.

Small-scale local fishery for shrimp and prawns has existed for centuries and continues to form a large proportion of the world's shrimp fisheries. [3] Trawling increased in scale with the introduction of otter boards, which use the flow of water to hold the trawling net open, and the introduction of steam-powered vessels, replacing the earlier sail-powered boats. [3] Both of these developments took off in the 1880s, and were soon applied to shrimp fisheries, especially following the research effort of the Norwegian marine biologist Johan Hjort. [3] Over time, the original open skiffs, 5–8 metres (16–26 ft) long, were replaced by decked boats, to which diesel engines were added, allowing the boats to reach an average of 18 m (59 ft). [4]

Scale and distribution

Shrimp bycatch Shrimp bycatch.jpg
Shrimp bycatch

In the United States, shrimp and prawn fisheries are second only to crab fishing in terms of importance. In the northern parts of the country, cold-water shrimp are targeted, while warm-water species are targeted along the south-eastern Atlantic coast, and in the Gulf of Mexico. [5] Most of the production is of warm-water species, but this is dwarfed by the imports of shrimp, mostly from aquaculture. [5] This has led to international controversies, with some United States fishermen accusing countries such as Brazil, China, Ecuador, India, Thailand and Vietnam of dumping shrimp on the US market, while some of the producing nations protested to the World Trade Organization about duties levied by the US in response to the inferred dumping. [6]

Controversies

Shrimp fisheries produce unusually high levels of bycatch. Before the introduction of bycatch reduction devices in the 1980s, shrimp fishery had a bycatch ratio (ratio of the amount of non-target species caught to the amount of the target species caught) of 4.5–5.3:1. [7] Since BRDs were introduced, the bycatch ratios may have been reduced by as much as 30%. [7] Shrimp fisheries tend to "capture more sea turtles than any other commercial fishery". [8]

Species targeted

Global capture of wild shrimp and prawn species in million tonnes, 1950-2010, as reported by the FAO Shrimp and prawn capture time series.png
Global capture of wild shrimp and prawn species in million tonnes, 1950–2010, as reported by the FAO

Shrimps are from all different types of bodies of water in the world. Fewer than 300 species of shrimp and prawns are of commercial importance, out of a total of 3000 species. The catch is dominated by six "species items", [Note 1] which collectively account for 82% of the global catch. [10] These are given in the table below:

Scientific nameFAO name2005 catch (t)Percentage of total
—Natantian Decapoda nei [Note 2] 887,68826.0%
Acetes japonicus Akiami paste shrimp664,71619.5%
Trachysalambria curvirostris southern rough shrimp429,60512.6%
Pandalus borealis northern prawn376,90811.0%
Penaeus spp.Penaeus shrimp nei [Note 2] 230,2976.7%
Penaeus monodon giant tiger prawn218,0276.4%

Shrimp and prawn fisheries can be divided into cold-water, warm-water and paste shrimp fisheries, broadly corresponding to the three taxonomic categories Penaeoidea, Caridea and Sergestoidea, respectively. [2]

Paste shrimp fisheries

Shrimp paste drying below the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Hong Kong Drying shrimp paste.jpg
Shrimp paste drying below the Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Hong Kong

Although the various species of the genus Acetes are not always distinguished by fishermen, collectively they form the world's largest shrimp fishery. [11] [Note 3] There are fisheries for Acetes in Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, but the vast majority of the catch is in China. [11] The total catch is likely to be grossly under-recorded, but was estimated at 664,716 t in 2005. [11] Within the Asia–Pacific region, the Acetes fishery is the fourth largest fishery by weight, after hairtails, anchovies and scads. [11]

Warm-water fisheries

Warm-water shrimp and prawn fisheries usually target several species, [12] and are typically monitored in terms of the catch per unit effort (CPUE), rather than the complex models used for cold-water shrimp. [13] Warm-water species (mainly Litopenaeus setiferus , Farfantepenaeus aztecus , and Farfantepenaeus duorarum ) provide more than 85% of the shrimp fishery in the United States, and are caught in the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent parts of the Atlantic Ocean. [14] Bycatch is a serious problem for warm-water shrimp fisheries, with inadvertent catches of sea turtles being among the most contentious issues. [15]

Cold-water fisheries

Pandalus borealis, the most important cold-water shrimp species Pandborealisind.jpg
Pandalus borealis , the most important cold-water shrimp species

The most important cold-water species is the "northern prawn", Pandalus borealis , [11] which accounts for 12% of the total shrimp and prawn catch. [16] Up to 70% of the catch is landed in Canada and Greenland. [11] The price of cold-water shrimp has been in decline since the 1990s, as a result of increased shrimp farming. [17]

Bycatch is typically managed in cold-water shrimp trawling, and rates of bycatch are accordingly low, [7] and the capture of sea turtles is rare in cold temperate waters. [18] Bycatch is mostly reduced by the use of Nordmøre grids, [19] which reduce the numbers of cod, haddock, Greenland halibut and redfish caught during shrimp trawls. [20] The Nordmøre grid was invented by the Norwegian fisherman Paul Brattøy, primarily as a means of excluding jellyfish from shrimp catches, and introduced in 1989. [19] This innovation causes a minimal reduction in the quantity of shrimp caught, but can reduce the amounts of bycatch by around 97%. [19]

Fisheries for cold-water shrimp using pots, the bycatch is mostly of invertebrates, including squat lobsters, crabs, molluscs and echinoderms. [21]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The FAO divides fisheries into "species items", which are typically species, but may be genera or higher taxa.
  2. 1 2 "nei" = not elsewhere included.
  3. ↑ Excluding the catch-all category "Natantian decapods nei".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dendrobranchiata</span> Suborder of prawns

Dendrobranchiata is a suborder of decapods, commonly known as prawns. There are 540 extant species in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian. They differ from related animals, such as Caridea and Stenopodidea, by the branching form of the gills and by the fact that they do not brood their eggs, but release them directly into the water. They may reach a length of over 330 millimetres (13 in) and a mass of 450 grams (1.0 lb), and are widely fished and farmed for human consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trawling</span> Method of catching fish

Trawling is an industrial method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different species of fishes or sometimes targeted species. Trawls are often called towed gear or dragged gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longline fishing</span> Commercial fishing technique

Longline fishing, or longlining, is a commercial fishing angling technique that uses a long main line with baited hooks attached at intervals via short branch lines called snoods or gangions. A snood is attached to the main line using a clip or swivel, with the hook at the other end. Longlines are classified mainly by where they are placed in the water column. This can be at the surface or at the bottom. Lines can also be set by means of an anchor, or left to drift. Hundreds or even thousands of baited hooks can hang from a single line. This can lead to many deaths of different marine species. Longliners – fishing vessels rigged for longlining – commonly target swordfish, tuna, halibut, sablefish and many other species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bycatch</span> Fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally

Bycatch, in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juveniles of the target species. The term "bycatch" is also sometimes used for untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting. Non-marine species that are caught but regarded as generally "undesirable" are referred to as rough fish or coarse fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiteleg shrimp</span> Species of crustacean

Whiteleg shrimp, also known as Pacific white shrimp or King prawn, is a species of prawn of the eastern Pacific Ocean commonly caught or farmed for food.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobster fishing</span> Aspect of the fishing industry

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cetacean bycatch</span> Accidental capture of porpoises, whales and dolphins

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turtle excluder device</span> Device for freeing sea turtles from bycatch

A turtle excluder device (TED) is a specialized device that allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net.

<i>Acetes</i> Genus of shrimp

Acetes is a genus of small shrimp that resemble krill, which is native to the western and central Indo-Pacific, the Atlantic coast of the Americas, Pacific coast of South America and inland waters of South America. Although most are from marine or estuarine habitats, the South American A. paraguayensis is a fresh water species. Several of its species are important for the production of shrimp paste in Southeast Asia, including A. japonicus, which is the world's most heavily fished species of wild shrimp or prawn in terms of total tonnage and represent the majority of non-human animals killed for food in terms of number of individuals.

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The environmental impact of fishing includes issues such as the availability of fish, overfishing, fisheries, and fisheries management; as well as the impact of industrial fishing on other elements of the environment, such as bycatch. These issues are part of marine conservation, and are addressed in fisheries science programs. According to a 2019 FAO report, global production of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals has continued to grow and reached 172.6 million tonnes in 2017, with an increase of 4.1 percent compared with 2016. There is a growing gap between the supply of fish and demand, due in part to world population growth.

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<i>Sicyonia brevirostris</i> Species of crustacean

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<i>Pandalus montagui</i> Species of crustacean

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In the fishery business, a bycatch reduction device is a tool designed to minimize unintended capture of marine animals, to reduce the adverse effects of fishing on the ecosystem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrimp</span> Decapod crustaceans

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prawn</span> Common name applied to some types of crustaceans

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References

Citations

  1. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 5.
  2. 1 2 Gillett (2008), p. 26.
  3. 1 2 3 Gillett (2008), p. 9.
  4. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 10.
  5. 1 2 Gillett (2008), p. 19.
  6. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 41.
  7. 1 2 3 Gillett (2008), p. 46.
  8. ↑ Hillestad et al. (1982) Cited in Gillett (2008), p. 50.
  9. ↑ Based on data sourced from the FishStat database
  10. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 25.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gillett (2008), p. 27.
  12. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 118.
  13. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 85.
  14. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 47.
  15. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 49.
  16. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 28.
  17. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 38.
  18. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 52.
  19. 1 2 3 Gillett (2008), p. 60.
  20. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 53.
  21. ↑ Gillett (2008), p. 55.

Sources

  • Doeksen A (2006) "Ecological perspectives of the north Sea C. Crangon fishery: An inventory of its effects on the marine ecosystem" Thesis, Wageningen University.
  • R. Gillett (2008). Global Study of Shrimp Fisheries. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization. ISBN   978-92-5-106053-7. Fisheries Technical Paper 475.
  • H. O. Hillestad; J. I. Richardson; C. McVea; J. M. Watson (1982). "Worldwide incidental capture of sea turtles". In Karen A. Bjorndal (ed.). Biology and Conservation of Sea Turtles . Proceedings of the World Conference on Sea Turtle Conservation, Washington, D.C., 26–30 November 1979. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN   9780874742435.
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