Conservation
Conservation
Tiger Shrimp Stalking the Gulf
Tiger Shrimp Stalking the Gulf
Asian tiger Shrimp, an invasive species, are being found in the Gulf of Mexico according to MDMR.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) is asking commercial and recreational shrimp fishermen to aid in the on-going monitoring process of the invasive species, Asian tiger shrimp.
There have been reports of small numbers of tiger shrimp caught in northern Gulf waters, including the Mississippi Sound. The tiger shrimp may have reached the northern Gulf of Mexico after having escaped aquaculture facilities in the Caribbean and being carried by ocean currents; this species is not currently being raised commercially in the United States.
Since 2006, the tiger shrimp has been found in the waters of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and North and South Carolina. Asian tiger shrimp are typically larger than brown and white shrimp more commonly found in the Mississippi Sound and are native to southeast Asia, Australia and the Philippines. The species can be easily identified by a black and white “tiger” stripped pattern on the shell, they can grow to more than 10 inches long and weigh more than a half-pound with a life span between two and three years.
“Most of the reports we’ve received most recently have been from fishermen working in Louisiana and landing their catch in Mississippi,” said Mike Pursley, Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator and Field Project Manager for the MDMR.
Fishermen are asked to report any encounters with this invasive species because exotic shrimp such as the tiger shrimp may pose environmental threats such as spreading disease, aggression toward native shrimp and competition for food and habitat.
“We just don’t know enough about potential effects at this time,” Pursley said.
“That’s why we would encourage shrimpers and seafood processors, or anyone else, to call the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources if you encounter the Asian tiger shrimp.”
If you are a commercial or recreational shrimp fisherman and you catch an Asian tiger shrimp, please take a photo, freeze it, record the GPS coordinates and call (228) 374-5000 or send an email to report.invasive@dmr.ms.gov.
Visit the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources online at www.dmr.ms.gov.
Photo courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund Partner to Protect the Polar Bear’s Home
Beginning next month, white will be the new red. Coca-Cola and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are joining forces in a bold new campaign to help protect the polar bear’s Arctic home.
For the first time ever, Coca-Cola is turning its iconic red cans white in celebration of the polar bear and committing up to $3 million to WWF’s polar bear conservation efforts. The Company is also asking fans in the U.S. to join the “Arctic Home” campaign by texting donations.
“We want to help the polar bear—a beloved Coca-Cola icon since 1922—by helping conserve its Arctic habitat,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “That’s why we’re using one of our greatest assets—our flagship brand, Coca-Cola—to raise awareness for this important cause. And by partnering with WWF, we can truly make a positive difference for these majestic animals.”
In North Texas, consumers will have an opportunity to preview these white Coke cans before they hit store shelves on November 1. On Thursday, October 27, 2011, at 2:00 p.m., the Young Environmentalist Group will join local Coca-Cola representatives at Grapevine Mills Mall for a special ceremony and proclamation by Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate announcing October 27, 2011, as Protect the Polar Bear Day in Grapevine, Texas. Coca-Cola will distribute the white cans to the first 200 consumers to arrive at the ceremony. Complimentary Coke floats will be available for all attendees. This special ceremony celebrates Coca-Cola’s beloved polar bear and the arrival of “Cappy,” a polar bear made of 4,500 recyclable, white Coca-Cola bottle caps.
First Ever White Packaging Encourages $1 Text Donation to WWFThis holiday season, more than 1.4 billion white Coke cans will help raise awareness and funds to protect the polar bear’s home. White bottle caps also will be on bottles of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Nestea, Minute Maid and more. Coca-Cola has never before changed the color of the red can to support a cause.
Beginning November 1, 2011, the familiar red can background will be replaced with an all-white panorama, highlighted by the iconic Coca-Cola script printed in red. The eye-catching cans will feature the image of a mother bear and her two cubs making their way across the Arctic. White packaging will be on store shelves through February 2012.Coca-Cola is making an initial donation of $2 million to WWF and inviting others to join the effort. Anyone who wants to help the polar bears can text the package code to 357357 to donate $1 to WWF. They also can donate online at ArcticHome.com, starting November 1. Coca-Cola will match all donations made with a package code by March 15, 2012, up to a total of $1 million.
Categories: Christmas, Conservation, Holidays Tags: 2011, artic white, christmas, coca-cola, coke, polar bear, white can, world wildlife fund, WWF
Hello! Meet Our Gulf Coast Shrimp
Dr. Jim Nance, Chief of the NOAA Galveston Laboratory's Fishery Management Branch.
There are three main species of commercially captured Gulf shrimp – brown shrimp, white shrimp and pink shrimp. (Yes, you Royal Reds fans, we know there’s a fourth kind, but we’re limiting this to the biggest catches – brown, white and pink shrimp compose over 99% of the annual shrimp catch. And we like the Reds and don’t really want to let these little-known morsels get more popular for fear we’ll have trouble finding them on our next visit to Pensacola.)
Brown shrimp and white shrimp are the most caught, with around 80 million pounds of tails harvested each year. The pink shrimp harvest comes in at 5-10 million pounds of tails. Dr. Nance says all three species grow to roughly the same size, and are found in all 5 Gulf Coast states. All species are caught mainly in offshore waters, but there is some bay and shallow water shrimping still taking place. Although bay shrimping has decreased in Texas, Louisiana still has a large inshore shrimp fishery.
Brown shrimp are the most abundant. They are caught mainly from Alabama to southern Texas, and mainly offshore up to 60 fathoms. (I love the word fathoms. A fathom is six feet, but really, who wouldn’t prefer to say fathoms rather than feet? It’s so nautical!) During daylight hours, Brown shrimp bury themselves in the mud on the seafloor. They come out at night; hence, shrimpers drag for Brown shrimp after dark.
Adult Brown shrimp spawn in the winter, offshore. Their larva migrate to shallow inshore waters February through April, where they congregate around grasses and other vegetation for both food and shelter. In May and June, once they’ve grown a little bigger, they venture back out into the deeper waters of the Gulf to mature. Browns are a summer shrimp, with their peak season being mid-July through the fall.
White shrimp are the next most abundant. They are harvested mostly from Alabama to the upper Texas coast. They are found closer to shore than Brown shrimp and in shallower water, up to 20 fathoms (!). Unlike Brown shrimp, Whites are found and fished in daylight. They spawn later than Browns and have a later season, making them mainly a Fall shrimp that mature August through October. The larva migrate to estuaries in June and July.
Pink shrimp are caught mainly off Southwest Florida, mostly around the Dry Tortugas. They seem to spawn year round in the Gulf. Their main season is October through December.
Dr. Nance and staff do a “stock assessment” for the Texas and Louisiana Brown shrimp industry every year, which is their prediction of the size of the shrimp crop for the coming summer. They monitor the maturing larval shrimp in Galveston Bay and use an environmental model that considers water temperature, salinity and other factors that affect the shrimp’s growth. Their predictions are published every June and are accurate to within 5-10%, giving shrimpers a good idea of what kind of season they can expect.
We saved the most important question for last: Which species is the best eatin’? Drum roll please . . . and the answer is . . . it depends. Hmm. Dr. Nance says it depends on your taste. Brown and Pink shrimp have a strong, wilder taste, while Whites are milder. Oh well, guess you’ll just have to sample a bunch yourself to find your favorite.
© 2011 Gulfscapes Magazine. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | To Purchase Use Email Gulfscapes | 361-548-6804
A Celebration of Shrimp
History of the Shrimping Industry
Shrimp as a food source has been around for centuries. When you’re studying a subject that has a long history, it’s handy to have an archaeologist around. We’re in luck. Laura Landry, marine archaeologist and President of L. A. Landry & Associates, Inc., has studied the evolution of the shrimp industry and of shrimp boats, and has lent her considerable expertise to Gulfscapes as we explore the Gulf’s shrimping history. 
Until the late 1800’s, explains Ms. Landry, shrimping was a mostly local product, sold close to where it was caught, due to its perishable nature. But then, shrimp as an industry got a boost from improved canning technology which allowed shrimp to be shipped far away without spoiling. The next big boost to the industry’s growth was in the early 1900’s with the advent of the ice machine. Ice allowed boats to stay out longer and catch more shrimp per trip. It allowed the shrimp to stay fresh longer in fish markets. It also allowed that fresh caught taste to last longer so people liked it better. It was a game changer. And so was the next big technological leap, which occurred in the 1920’s . . . freezing. Freezing allowed Gulf Coast shrimp to be shipped all over the world. With the increase in its shelf life, demand for shrimp jumped. With more demand came the need for more harvest. That meant bigger boats and catching shrimp not just in the shallow bays, as had been the custom for years, but also offshore in the deeper waters of the Gulf.
Ms. Landry explains that initially, shrimping was only done in the shallow waters of coastal bays and bayous. This called for boats with shallow drafts. Draft, in simple terms, is how much water a boat needs to float. Shallow draft boats can navigate in shallower water than deep draft boats.
According to Ms. Landry, the early shrimping vessels were sailing boats with wide, flat bottoms that used either centerboards or hinged keels in order to navigate in shallower water. These boats were called luggers, named for the single lugsail it used for propulsion. The original luggers were replaced by modern luggers which have an engine (in place of the sail) and a wheelhouse in the rear of the boat, while the fish hold (where you store the caught shrimp) is located in the front. They range from 20 to 40 feet.
Around 1938, the offshore shrimp boat was introduced to the Gulf. It was the South Atlantic trawler, which until then was used along the deeper waters off the east coast. It was larger, 50-65 feet, had an inboard engine and kept ice in its hold. The wheelhouse was located in the front and the fish hold was in the rear. It had large booms to work its large nets. These trawlers could stay out for weeks, whereas the smaller boats usually didn’t stay out for more than a few days.
Modern offshore trawlers range from 40 to 90 feet, with engines making hundreds of horsepower. Construction varies and modern boats can be made from wood, fiberglass or steel. Most have the wheelhouse in the front, with the fish hold in the rear. Large booms with winches are used to raise and lower the nets.
The type of nets used to catch shrimp has changed over the years, too, says Ms. Landry. She explains that the early shrimpers used a smaller net with a frame to keep it open, called a butterfly net. These nets were lowered along the side of the boat and held in place while the boat slowly trawled. Butterfly nets are still used by small and recreational shrimpers.
Ms. Landry says that from the late 1800’s until 1930, the larger lugger boats used seine nets. The seine nets were long, skinny rectangle shaped nets that had one end attached to the lugger, while small skiffs towed the lead edge of the net away from the lugger and then completed a circle back to the lugger, thereby trapping the shrimp in the net.
Larger nets called otter trawls are used on offshore boats. These cone shaped nets have a pair of doors that keep the net open while it is pulled through the water behind the boat. Otter trawls have tickler chains that help weight the net down to the bottom and that also disturb the shrimp on the bottom, causing them to rise up and be caught in the net.
Modern offshore shrimp boats usually trawl with four nets, and carry an extra four nets as backups. Inshore, or bay shrimpers, trawl with two nets.
When shrimpers pull their nets up, there’s a lot more in there than shrimp. Ms. Landry says that some shrimpers will keep crabs and some fish that have value, but most of the “bycatch” in the nets is thrown back, but a large portion doesn’t survive. Over the years, the amount of bycatch in Gulf shrimp nets has declined, from around 10 pounds of bycatch per one pound of shrimp, to 4 pounds of bycatch for 1 pound of shrimp. Worldwide numbers are higher, with around 6 pounds of bycatch to shrimp, on average.
This bycatch has caused problems as endangered species like sea turtles have gotten caught in the nets and die before they can be released. This led to turtle exclusion devices (TEDs) being required equipment for Gulf shrimpers. The TEDs are a door-like structure placed in the net that help keep turtles from getting caught. Now, bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) are also required to help reduce all bycatch, a move prompted by the depletion of the red snapper population in the Gulf. Red snapper was a frequent bycatch.
These devices are helping turtles and red snapper, which were once threatened by the shrimp industry. The ability of the shrimping industry to absorb these changes for the betterment of other species is a source of pride and accomplishment. But it shouldn’t be surprising. Gulf shrimpers have always been a resilient bunch. With some luck and perseverance, the Gulf shrimp industry will be around another hundred years, and will need an archaeologist like Ms. Landry to explain its history.
© 2011 Gulfscapes Magazine. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | To Purchase Use Email Gulfscapes | 361-548-6804
Categories: Featured story, Food & Wine, Gulf Coast States, NOAA, Seafood, Shrimp Tags: al, fl, food, Gulf Coast Shrimp Bisque, history, la, ms, recipe, seafood, shrimp, tx
