Shrimp FMP - Division of Marine Fisheries

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe goal of the North Carolina Shrimp Fishery Management Plan is to utilize amanagement strategy that provides adequate resource protection, optimizes the long-termcommercial harvest, maximizes social and economic value, provides sufficient opportunity forrecreational shrimpers, and considers the needs of all user groups. To achieve this goal, it isrecommended that the following objectives be met:1. Minimize waste and enhance economic value of the shrimp resource by promoting moreeffective harvesting practices.2. Minimize harvest of non-target species of finfish and crustaceans and protected,threatened, and endangered species.3. Promote the protection, restoration, and enhancement of habitats and environmentalquality necessary for enhancing the shrimp resource.4. Maintain a clear distinction between conservation goals and allocation issues.5. Reduce conflicts among and within user groups, including non-shrimping user groupsand activities.6. Encourage research and education to improve the understanding and management ofthe shrimp resource.The three species of shrimp, brown, pink, and white, included in this FisheryManagement Plan (FMP) are essentially annual crops. Population size is regulated byenvironmental conditions, and while fishing reduces the population size over the season, fishingis not believed to have any impact on subsequent year class strength unless the spawningstock has been reduced below a minimum threshold level by environmental conditions.Estimates of population size are not available but since the fishery is considered to be fished atnear maximum levels, annual landings are probably a good indication of relative abundance.Annual variations in catch are presumed to be due to a combination of prevailing environmentalconditions and fishing effort. More recently, landings are showing the effects of changes in theeconomics of the fishery.Because of high fecundity and migratory behavior, the three species are all capable ofrebounding from a very low population size in one year to a large population size in the next,provided environmental conditions are favorable. Fluctuations in abundance resulting fromchanges in environmental conditions will continue to occur. Perhaps the most serious threat tothe stocks is loss or degradation of habitat due to pollution or physical alteration. Especiallyvulnerable and critical to shrimp production is the salt marsh (for white and brown shrimp) andinshore seagrass habitat (especially for pink shrimp) which comprise the nursery areas forjuvenile shrimp. Shrimp stocks of all three species in North Carolina are considered viable.Commercial FisheriesNorth Carolina's shrimp fishery is unusual in the Southeast United States because threespecies are taken here and the majority of the effort is expended in internal waters. Totallandings from 1994-2003 have averaged 7,539,730 lbs per year (range 4.6-10.3 Mlb) caught onan average of 18,591 annual trips (range 14,399-23,901 trips). Inshore waters account for 76%1