White Shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus)

• Population levels of white shrimp are high, and overfishing is not occurring.
• Commercial fisheries for shrimp 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 information, 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: Unavailable. Shrimp population status is based on catch statistics rather than biomass estimates.
Overfishing: No
Overfished: No
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: Gulf and South Atlantic white shrimp are not produced in aquaculture in the United States, but about 8 million pounds of Pacific Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) are grown in U.S. aquaculture each year.

Science and Management

The white shrimp fishery in the South Atlantic is managed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council through their Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Although not overfished, the white shrimp resource in the South Atlantic region is periodically decimated by severe winter cold kills, especially offshore of Georgia and South Carolina. Following these events, continued fishing on the few remaining adults in the spring may reduce the more valuable fall shrimp production. 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. This cooperative plan allows maximum protection of the remaining adult population. 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, white shrimp are managed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council through the Shrimp FMP. The goal of this FMP is to enhance yield, in volume and value. Bycatch reduction devices 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: Off the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico, specifically from Fire Island, New York to St. Lucie Inlet on the Atlantic Coast of Florida, and from the Ochlochonee River on the Gulf Coast of Florida to Ciudad, Campeche, Mexico.
• Habitat: In waters of 89 feet or less although occasionally found much deeper, up to 270 feet. Postlarval shrimp occupy nursery areas in estuaries that offer abundant food, suitable substrate, and shelter from predators. In the South Atlantic, these areas are generally dominated by the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. White shrimp enter the estuaries in April and early May and begin emigrating out to commercial fishing areas in August through December. Smaller shrimp may stay in the estuary throughout the winter. White shrimp prefer muddy or peaty bottoms rich in organic matter and decaying vegetation in inshore waters and prefer soft muddy bottoms offshore.
• Life span: Short - less than one year. Shrimp are an annual crop.
• Food: Juveniles and adults are omnivorous bottom feeders that mostly feed at night. They eat polychaete worms, amphipods, nematodes, caridean shrimps, mysids, copepods, isopods, ostracods, mollusks, foraminiferans, chironomid larvae, and various types of organic debris.
• Growth rate: Rates are highly variable, depending on season, water temperature, shrimp density, salinity, size, and sex. Adolescent white shrimp grow rapidly, ranging from 0.04 to 0.09 inches per day.
• Maximum size: Estimated at 7 to 8 inches.
• Reaches reproductive maturity: At about 5.3 to 5.5 inches total length.
• Reproduction: White shrimp have high fecundity, with females having about 500,000 to 1 million ova. Eggs are demersal and measure 0.01 inches. In white shrimp, copulation takes place between hard-shelled individuals. The male anchors the spermatophore to the female. Fertilization takes place as ova and spermatozoa are simultaneously released from the female.
• Spawning season: Begin spawning in April off East Florida and Georgia and late April or May in South Carolina. In the Gulf of Mexico, white shrimp begin spawning in April/May. Spawning may continue into September or October. Spawning season is correlated with bottom water temperatures.
• Spawning grounds: In Georgia and northeastern Florida, some spawning may occur inshore but most occurs more than 1.2 miles from the coastline. Off northeast Florida, spawning occasionally takes place inshore, at or near inlets, but most occurs offshore in depths of 20 to 80 feet. In South Carolina, most spawning occurs within about four miles of the coast. In the Gulf of Mexico spawning occurs nearshore out to 60 feet.
• Migrations: Postlarvae move to nursery areas in estuaries then migrate seaward as they increase in size.
• Predators: Shrimp are preyed upon by a wide variety of species. Predators of postlarvae include sheepshead minnows, water boatmen, and insect larvae. Grass shrimp, killifishes, and blue crabs prey on young shrimp, and a wide variety of finfish prey heavily on juvenile and adult shrimp.
• Commercial or recreational interest: Both, but the recreational fishery occurs seasonally and almost entirely in state waters.
• Distinguishing characteristics: White shrimp have a well-developed and toothed rostrum (beak) which extends to or beyond the far edge of the eye. White shrimp have 10 walking legs, called periopods, which are slender and relatively long. They also have five pairs of swimming legs called pleopods that are located on the ventral surface of the abdomen. White shrimp are not grooved, unlike brown and pink shrimp. White shrimp can also be distinguished from other species by its much longer antenna (2.5 to 3 times longer than body length), light gray body color, green coloration on the tail, and the yellow band on part of its abdomen.

Role in the Ecosystem

White shrimp are an important food for many marine and estuarine fish. For example, one study reported larval and juvenile shrimp to be an important food for 13 of 21 juvenile fishes occupying seagrass beds in Florida estuaries of the Gulf of Mexico.

White shrimp recycle basic nutrients by feeding on organic matter and microorganisms in sediments.

Additional Information

Market names: Shrimp or White Shrimp
Vernacular name: Northern White Shrimp
Several other species are also marketed as Shrimp.

Biomass

Biomass refers to the amount of white 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 historical 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 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. White shrimp are the second most abundant species (after brown shrimp) with 1998 and 1999 landings of approximately 55 million pounds and 2000 landings of over 70 million pounds. From 2000 to 2005, landings fluctuated from a low around 80 million pounds to a high of 130 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. For example, white shrimp landings are much lower in years following severe winter weather. This could explain the low level of white shrimp landings in 2001. Fluctuation in landings is also tied to the level of effort in the fishery, which in turn is influenced by expected market prices.

Note: Domestic commercial landings are shown in the graph.

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 NMFS Annual Commercial Landings Statistics using "SHRIMP, WHITE" as Species and "ATLANTIC" and "GULF" as State

Important Dates

South Atlantic
1991 – Shrimp Fishery Management Plan for the South Atlantic region is implemented
1996 – Amendment 2 defines overfishing for white shrimp; requires the use of certified bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) in all penaeid shrimp trawls in the South Atlantic EEZ; also 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 establishes a federal permit for penaeid shrimp, amends BRD protocol, establishes a method to monitor and assess bycatch, and addresses stock status determination criteria

Gulf of Mexico
1981 – Shrimp FMP implemented to enhance volume and value of yield; establishes reporting systems for vessels, dealers, and processors
1983 – Amendment 2 updates catch and economic data in the FMP
1984 – Amendment 3 resolves a shrimp-stone crab gear conflict
1989 – Amendment 5 adjusts seasonal closure and defers action on the definition of overfishing for white shrimp
1993 – Amendment 6 institutes monitoring and annual stock assessment for the Tortugas Shrimp Sanctuary
1994 – Amendment 7 defines overfishing for white shrimp and provided for future updating of overfishing indices
1998 – Amendment 9 addresses reducing bycatch of juvenile red snapper in the shrimp trawl fishery
2002 – Amendment 11 requires commercial shrimp vessel permits for vessels harvesting shrimp in the EEZ
2002 – Amendment 12 establishes two marine reserves in the EEZ in the vicinity of the Dry Tortugas, Florida (Tortugas North and Tortugas South), where fishing for coastal migratory pelagic species is prohibited
2004 – Amendment 10 requires the installation of NMFS-certified BRDs that reduce the bycatch of finfish by at least 30% by weight in each net used aboard vessels trawling for shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico EEZ east of Cape San Blas, Florida (except vessels trawling for groundfish or butterfish)
2006 – Amendment 13 establishes bycatch reporting methodologies to improve collection of shrimping effort data in the EEZ, establishes a moratorium on issuance of commercial shrimp vessel permits, and requires reporting and certification of landings during a 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

General Information:
Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates (Gulf of Mexico) - White Shrimp

Fishery Management:
South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Shrimp Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the South Atlantic Region

Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Shrimp FMP

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Regional Office Gulf Shrimp Amendment 13 Frequently Asked Questions