Preliminary Study of Trap Bycatch in the Gulf of Maine's Northern Shrimp Fishery

Abstract

Shrimp are one of the most economically valued and internationally traded fisheries products in the world, but there are persistent concerns over the environmental impact of shrimp fisheries, particularly the bycatch. In the Gulf of Maine (GOM), the northern shrimp Pandalus borealis are fished by two types of gear–trawls and traps. Bycatch rates for the trawl fishery were studied previously, but little has been documented for the trap fishery. In this study, onboard observers quantified bycatch on several trap boats along the central coast of Maine during the 2010 and 2011 fishing seasons (i.e., winter). This study found that the average bycatch level for Maine's northern shrimp trap fishery for the areas covered in the study was 1.21% in 2010 and 1.11% in 2011 by weight of landed catch. Although bycatch level and bycatch species composition varied on both temporal and spatial scales, the level of bycatch involved with the GOM's northern trap shrimp fishery was low compared with the global wild-caught shrimp fisheries. This study adds evidence of the low ecosystem impact of sustainably harvested coldwater trap-caught shrimp. Additional samples are needed for a complete understanding of bycatch levels on both temporal and spatial scales in Maine's northern shrimp trap fishery.

Received June 23, 2011; accepted April 19, 2012

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank all of the volunteer fishermen who graciously offered their boats as our platform of study and for their hours of insights; Craig King, Marissa McMahan, and Troy Thibodeau for assisting in collecting field data; and Les White from Maine Department of Marine Resources for providing direction for this study. We acknowledge Ben Ewing for his helpful editing comments on early drafts of this manuscript. Financial support for this project was provided by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Kendall Foundation, University of Maine School of Marine Science, the American Association of University Women, the University Women's Foundation of Jefferson County, and Maine's Sea Grant program.