Converting Life History Information into an Ecological Forecast

Pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus duorarum contribute between 66,000 and 640,000 kg annually to the commercial fishery in North Carolina, the most northern limit of their range.  Previous research has found that winter temperature is correlated with the following spring landings, perhaps because of the species inherent vulnerability to cold and the availability of temperature refuges.   This relationship afforded the opportunity to examine the utility of producing and distributing annual forecasts of commercial pink shrimp landings for use by shrimpers in optimizing future economic efficiencies.  This study presents the results of attempting to convert the relationship between pink shrimp life history and subsequent harvest into an ecological forecast.