Alternate Title
Shrimp Landing Trends as Indicators of Estuarine Habitat Quality
Abstract
Penaeid shrimp support three major commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. They are an estuarine-dependent species with life cycles that are completed within 1 yr. The stocks are fully exploited. Landings are independent of effort in that increased effort would not increase landings. Landings are therefore a direct measure of stock. Because the penaeids are annual species, landings are also a measure of recruitment. Since recruitment is dependent on habitat quality, landings are a measure of habitat quality and temporal trends in annual landings reveal trends in estuarine habitat quality. The landings trends indicate diminished habitat quality in Florida Bay since the mid-1980s. Landings for Louisiana and Texas reveal either increasing habitat quality or no change over the past 44 years.
Recommended Citation
O'Connor, T. P. and G. C. Matlock.
2005.
Shrimp Landing Trends as Indicators of Estuarine Habitat Quality.
Gulf of Mexico Science
23
(2).
Retrieved from https://aquila.usm.edu/goms/vol23/iss2/6