Geographic Delineation of Fishing Grounds for Brown, White, and Pink Shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico Based on Electronic Logbook and Landings Data

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has implemented an Electronic Logbook (ELB) program in the Gulf of Mexico to estimate penaeid shrimp fishing effort.  The species composition of the catch for each trip by an ELB vessel can be estimated from the corresponding shrimp landings data.  Beginning in 2007, we used these data to determine the distribution of tows from trips by vessels carrying ELB units where over 90% of the catch was restricted to only one of the three targeted species: brown shrimp Farfantepenaeus aztecus, white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus, and pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum.  Of the estimated 76.5 thousand nominal days fished in 2009, an estimated 36.3 thousand days  were directed at brown shrimp, 24.6 thousand days were directed at white  shrimp, and 3.3 thousand days were directed at pink shrimp.  Our analysis confirms that brown shrimp occur from Alabama to the Texas-Mexico border (and beyond), and are taken mainly from about 10 fathoms to the continental shelf edge.  White shrimp are taken mainly inside of the 10-fathom depth contour from Alabama to about Corpus Christi, Texas.  The pink shrimp fishery is largely restricted to the Florida Gulf shelf, especially in the area north of the Florida Keys.