Biological Survey of the Commercial Shrimp and Associated Organisms of Area 20 in the Gulf of Mexico

Information in this report is based on data from 90 trawl samples producing a total of 4,602 brown shrimp, 882 white shrimp, 21 pink shrimp, 234 seabobs, 3,144 specimens of non-commercial shrimp of seven species, and 1,734 squid of two species. Browns migrating through the 2-15 fathom sampling area were most abundant in August. Whites showed scattered abundance peaks in April, July, September, and through the winter. The few pinks caught were most abundant in March-April. Seabobs were taken only in February and March. All four commercial shrimp suffered a definite abundance drop from the previous year. Two fo the common non-commercial species showed a corresponding decrease. Gulf environmental factors probably contributed to this drop in abundance. Sampling data again brought out the fact that in this area in depths under 15 fathoms the migrating brown population failed to reach individual sizes commensurate with most economic harvest during the period of abundance. The large whites in these waters were of commercial size.