Assessing the Exploitation Strategies of the Shrimp Fishery in the Gulf of California

Hugo Gael RamãÂ­Rez-Villalobos,Ernesto A Chã¡Vez*

doi:10.35248/2150-3508.19.10.273

Abstract

Shrimp is the most valuable fisheries resource in Mexico, representing almost 40% of the total production landed, with total revenue of more than US $ 132 million per year. Shrimp fishery provides with more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. Three peneid shrimp species, blue, brown, and white shrimp of the southern Gulf of California, are exploited near to their maximum capacity, and they account for >95% of the wild stock of the Pacific coast. In the current fishery, the age of first capture is the overexploiting juveniles; therefore, increasing the age of the first capture from four to five months is recommended. The stocks were evaluated with a simulation model. Two fishing scenarios were tested: the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and the MSY/fisher. As it is not possible to address particular exploitation policies for each species, the recommended exploitation strategies are based on combined species. It was concluded that, for the MSY scenario, 12,000 fishing days per season would fulfill most of the requirements; in the second case (MSY/fisher), reducing the current number of boats to 530 would achieve the required goal.

Highlights

The world shrimp production for fishing and aquaculture is around 6.4 million t of whole shrimp and represents an annual income of more than 20 billion dollars [1]
The proportion of species caught in the eastern Gulf of California is varied depending on the habitat, region, and depth
For the southern Gulf of California, the inshore water is dominated by white shrimp (89%) and followed by blue shrimp (11%)

Summary

Introduction

The world shrimp production for fishing and aquaculture is around 6.4 million t of whole shrimp and represents an annual income of more than 20 billion dollars [1]. The shrimp fishery in the Mexican Pacific is supported mainly by four peneid shrimp species, commonly called as follows: brown shrimp Penaeus californiensis, blue Penaeus stylirostris, white Penaeus vannamei, and red or crystal shrimp Penaeus brevirostris. The total wild shrimp production was 74,000 t for the Gulf of California in 2013 [3,4]. For the southern Gulf of California (southern Sinaloa), the inshore water is dominated by white shrimp (89%) and followed by blue shrimp (11%). The main species is brown shrimp (55%), followed by white (41%) and blue (4%) [3,5]. Brown shrimp dominates catches with 70-80% of total production [6]. The offshore fleet based in Mazatlan captures 70% of their shrimp catch in the central and north of Sinaloa throughout the fishing season

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Discussion

Conclusion