Pink Shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum)

• Population levels of pink shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico are stable. The Gulf population is not overfished, nor has it experienced overfishing. The pink shrimp population of the South Atlantic is low (but not due to fishing pressure).
• Commercial shrimp fishermen continue to work to reduce the harmful impacts of bycatch of non-target species, including red snapper.
• Shrimp is low in saturated fat and is a very good source of protein, selenium, and vitamin B12. For more on nutrition, see Nutrition Facts. (USDA)
• Only about 10% of the shrimp consumed in the U.S. are captured. The rest are imported, and most are grown in aquaculture. For more information on shrimp imports see the Trade page.

Sustainability Status

Biomass: Biomass estimates are not as meaningful for shrimp management as they are with management of most other stocks. See the Biomass and landings section below.
Overfishing: No
Overfished: Yes* (South Atlantic); No (Gulf of Mexico)
Fishing and habitat: Trawling can affect the seabed in a variety of ways. Individual impacts may be relatively minor, but the cumulative effect and intensity of trawling may have long-term effects on bottom communities. These effects also depend upon site-specific characteristics of the local ecosystem such as bottom type, water depth, community type, gear type, and natural disturbances. Trawling is prohibited in areas supporting coral reefs and other known areas of high-relief or significant biological communities. In the Gulf of Mexico, a "weak-link" is required in the tickler chain to allow it to drop away if the chain gets hung up on natural bottom structures.
Bycatch: Bycatch varies by depth and area fished. In the Gulf of Mexico, more than 450 groups of organisms are taken as bycatch in shrimp trawls. By weight, approximately 67 percent of catch is finfish, 16 percent is commercial shrimp, and 17 percent is invertebrates. Atlantic croaker and longspine porgies are the two most dominant species taken in Gulf shrimp trawls. Red snapper comprise a small portion of overall shrimp trawl bycatch in the Gulf (about 0.5 percent of the overall catch), but this bycatch reduces survival of these fish to the directed fishery. In the South Atlantic, shrimp account for approximately 20% of the total catch by weight. Finfish account for 47% of the total shrimp trawl catch, while crustaceans and other invertebrates account for the remainder of the catch. Important species caught as bycatch in the South Atlantic include spot, Atlantic croaker, weakfish, and Spanish mackerel. Sea turtles are also caught as bycatch in shrimp trawls. Shrimp trawlers must comply with federal sea turtle conservation requirements, including the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs). Shrimp trawlers also must use bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) in shrimp trawls to reduce finfish bycatch. In February 2008, NMFS implemented a new rule that changed BRD certification criteria to allow for certification of new, more effective BRDs.
Aquaculture: Pink shrimp is not currently produced in aquaculture in the U.S., but about 8 million pounds of Pacific Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) are grown in U.S. aquaculture each year.

*Although this stock is listed as overfished, a formal rebuilding plan is not required. Pink shrimp is an annual crop, and a panel of experts determined that the stock was overfished due to environmental factors rather than overfishing. The panel, which was organized by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council in April 2008 to review the status of South Atlantic pink shrimp, determined no management actions are needed.

Science and Management

The commercial pink shrimp fishery in the South Atlantic is managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council through the Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The FMP allows North and South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida to request a closure in federal waters adjacent to closed state waters for brown, pink, or white shrimp following severe cold weather. Certified bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) are required in all penaeid (pink, white and brown) shrimp trawls in the South Atlantic EEZ to reduce shrimp trawl bycatch.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the pink shrimp fishery is managed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. The goal of this Shrimp FMP is to enhance yield, in volume and value. Bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) were first required in the shrimp trawl fishery in the late 1990s to reduce bycatch of red snapper and other finfish. Trawling for shrimp is annually prohibited in federal waters off Texas from mid-May to mid-July.

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is working on new BRD designs and certification criteria for South Atlantic and Gulf shrimp trawl vessels to further minimize bycatch. Shrimp trawls also interact with sea turtles. Shrimp trawlers must comply with federal sea turtle conservation requirements, including the use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs).

Life History and Habitat

Life history, including information on the habitat, growth, feeding, and reproduction of a species, is important because it affects how a fishery is managed.

• Geographic range: Pink shrimp are found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. Off the United States, they occur from southern Chesapeake Bay to the Florida Keys, and around the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to Yucatan south of Cabo Catoche. They are most abundant off southwestern Florida and the southeastern Golfo de Campeche.
• Habitat: Postlarval shrimp move inshore to nursery areas in estuaries beginning in April and early May. In the South Atlantic, these areas are generally dominated by the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. Smaller pink shrimp remain in the estuary during winter (called overwintering stocks). They bury themselves deeply in the substrate when cold weather comes and are somewhat protected from winter mortalities. Shrimp that survive the winter grow rapidly in late winter and early spring before migrating to the ocean. Pink shrimp are commonly found on hard sand and calcareous shell bottom.
• Life span: Short - less than 1 year. Shrimp are an annual crop.
• Food: Juveniles and adults are omnivorous (eating both plants and animals) bottom feeders. They eat polychaetes, amphipods, nematodes, caridean shrimps, mysids, copepods, isopods, amphipods, ostracods, mollusks, foraminiferans, chironomid larvae, and various types of organic debris.
• Growth rate: Highly variable and dependent on factors such as season, water temperature, shrimp density, salinity, size, and sex. Adolescent pink shrimp grow rapidly, ranging from 0.01 to 0.07 inches per day.
• Maximum size: As noted above pink shrimp growth also depends upon sex. Females, which are often larger than males, can grow to over 8 inches in total length.
• Reaches reproductive maturity: At about 3.3 inches.
• Reproduction: Shrimp can have 500,000 to 1 million ova. Hard-shelled male pink shrimp mate with soft-shelled female pink shrimp. Fertilization is believed to take place as ova and spermatozoa are simultaneously expulsed from the female.
• Spawning season: Off the Eastern coast of Florida, peak spawning activity seems to occur during the summer. In the Tortugas grounds off the Western tip of Florida, recruits enter the fishery during the months of September and October. In North Carolina, egg-bearing females are found as early as May, and by June, most pink shrimp are sexually mature.
• Spawning grounds: Spawning occurs in water depths ranging from 12 to 52 feet.
• Migrations: Postlarvae move from distant spawning areas to inside estuaries during late spring and early summer, most likely by shoreward countercurrents. Adults migrate offshore.
• Predators: Shrimp are preyed on by a wide variety of species at virtually all stages in their life. Sheepshead minnows, water boatmen, and insect larvae prey on postlarvae. Grass shrimp, killifishes, and blue crabs prey on young penaeid shrimp, and a wide variety of finfish are known to prey heavily on juvenile and adult penaeid shrimp.
• Commercial or recreational interest: Both
• Distinguishing characteristics: Pink shrimp have a well-developed, toothed rostrum (part of the exoskeleton), which extends to, or beyond the outer edge of the eyes. They have 10 periopods (walking legs) that are slender and relatively long and 5 pairs of pleopods (swimming legs) that are located on the ventral surface of the abdomen. Pink shrimp are grooved; grooves occur on the dorsal surface of the carapace (part of the exoskeleton which covers the anterior part of the body). Pink shrimp typically have a dark colored spot on each side between the third and fourth abdominal segments. The tail flippers of pink shrimp usually have a dark blue band while the brown shrimp's coloration on the same band is usually more variable, ranging from purple to reddish purple.

Role in the Ecosystem

Shrimp is a major prey item for many forms of marine life. Impacts of shrimp trawl harvest and bycatch on the marine ecosystem and fisheries can include changes to the trophic structure by decreasing a predator's food sources and increasing scavenger food sources. These changes could lead to significant biological loss, overfishing of bycatch species, modification of biological community structures in ecosystems, and impacts on severely depleted, threatened, or endangered species.

Additional Information

Market names: Shrimp or Pink Shrimp
Vernacular names: Spotted Shrimp, Hopper, Pink Spotted Shrimp, Brown Spotted Shrimp, Grooved Shrimp, Green Shrimp, Pink Night Shrimp, Red Shrimp, Skipper, and Pushed Shrimp

Biomass

Biomass refers to the amount of pink shrimp in the ocean. Biomass estimates are not as meaningful for managing shrimp as for managing most other stocks. Shrimp are an annual crop - most shrimp do not survive longer than 1 year. Instead of using biomass estimates, managers base maximum sustainable yield and optimum yield on historic landings. Overfishing and overfished conditions for Gulf of Mexico penaeid shrimp are based on the amount of surviving parents. Catch-per-unit-effort from fishery independent field studies is used to assess overfishing and overfished conditions of South Atlantic penaeid shrimps.

Landings

Landings refer to the amount of catch that is brought to land. The three species of penaeid shrimp (white, pink, and brown shrimp) comprise more than 99% of the landings in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery. In recent years, average annual landings of the three species have been approximately 150.0 million pounds; however, since 2002 landings have declined sharply due to economic conditions in the fishery and hurricane damage, particularly in 2005 when landings dropped to approximately 92 million pounds.

Overall annual harvest in the South Atlantic is dominated by white and brown shrimp species. Annual landings of the three penaeid species vary considerably from year to year. These fluctuations have been attributed to environmental influences.

Biomass and Landings

Are landings and biomass related? Landings are dependent on biomass, management measures in the fishery, and fishing effort.

Data sources: Landings from NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Annual Commercial Landing Statistics using "SHRIMP, PINK" as species and "ATLANTIC AND GULF"

Important Dates

South Atlantic
1991 – South Atlantic Shrimp FMP implemented
1996 – Amendment 2 adds pink shrimp to the South Atlantic Shrimp FMP; also defines optimum yield for pink shrimp, requires the use of certified bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) in all penaeid shrimp trawls in the South Atlantic EEZ, and establishes a framework for BRD certification
1998 – Amendment 3 identifies Essential Fish Habitat and Habitat Areas of Particular Concern
1998 – Amendment 4 makes definitions of maximum sustainable yield, optimum, overfishing, and overfished consistent with National Standard Guidelines; identifies and defines fishing communities; and addresses bycatch management measures
2005 – Amendment 6 to the South Atlantic FMP establishes a federal permit for penaeid shrimp and a method to monitor and assess bycatch in the penaeid shrimp fishery; amends BRD testing protocol and criteria for certification

Gulf of Mexico
1981 – Gulf of Mexico Shrimp FMP is implemented
1984 – Amendment 3 resolves a shrimp-stone crab gear conflict on the west central Florida coast
1989 – Amendment 4 identifies problems that developed in the fishery and revises the objectives of the FMP accordingly
1989 – Amendment 5 defines overfishing for pink shrimp and provides for measures to restore overfished stocks if overfishing should occur
1998 – Amendment 9 addresses the issue of reducing bycatch of juvenile red snapper in the shrimp trawl fishery through the requirement of BRDs west of Cape San Blas, Florida.
2002 – Amendment 11 requires commercial permits for shrimp harvest in the EEZ
2004 – Amendment 10 requires NOAA Fisheries Service-certified BRDs that reduce bycatch of finfish aboard vessels trawling for shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico EEZ, east of Cape San Blas, Florida
2006 – Amendment 13 establishes a 10-year moratorium on the issuance of commercial shrimp vessels, capping the number of vessels in the federal fishery during 2006 and requiring reporting and certification of landings during the moratorium
2008 – Amendment 14 establishes a shrimp trawl bycatch reduction target for red snapper and seasonal areas closures in the north-central and western Gulf of Mexico if this effort cap is exceeded.

Notes and Links

Fishery Management:
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Fish ID and Regulations for Penaeid Shrimp

South Atlantic Shrimp FMP

History of the South Atlantic Shrimp FMP

Gulf of Mexico Shrimp FMP