A Description of Penaeid Shrimp Fishing Intensity Pattern for the Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf

The National Marine Fisheries Service began an Electronic Logbook (ELB) data collection program for the Gulf of Mexico penaeid shrimp fishery in 2004 and this program has continued to the present.  The ELB uses a GPS unit connected to a small computer to collect location data at 10-min intervals.  We used these data to determine fishing intensity for the continental shelf of the Gulf of Mexico. Kernel density technique as a spatial cluster analysis was conducted to estimate fishing hot spots. This technique identifies intensity of incidents hot spots. Fishing intensity is lower in the eastern Gulf as compared to the western Gulf.  Within the western Gulf, highest levels of fishing intensity during the first six months of the year typically occur in nearshore areas less than 10-fathoms deep. Intensity remains high in nearshore areas during the last half of the year, but some deeper areas also show high levels of fishing intensity during this period.  Low levels of fishing intensity appear characteristic for the annual reoccurring hypoxic area sited offshore western Louisiana.