Northern shrimp fishery trap bycatch in the Gulf of Maine

Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) is an important winter fishery in the Gulf of Maine.  Both trap and trawl are used to harvest northern shrimp.  Historically, trawl boats landed most of the shrimp catch but with a change in local commercial fishing practices, an increasing proportion of catch is coming from the trap shrimp fishery.  However, we only have limited information on bycatch in the shrimp trap fishery.  We conducted this study to evaluate and quantify temporal and spatial variations in bycatch for the Gulf of Maine trap shrimp fishery.  Six boats from a large spatial range of active shrimp fishing ports in the State of Maine were sampled twice a month for the length of the 2009-2010 trap season.  An on-board observer collected weight, length, species composition of bycatch, and corresponding environmental data while the boat followed their typical fishing routine.  In addition to quantifying temporal and spatial patterns we also evaluated the key environmental variables that might influence bycatch trends.  This study helps enhance our understanding of impacts of trap shrimp harvest on benthic communities in the Gulf of Maine.