marine shops on the Pacific Coast. It is located at Juneau and is valued, at least, at $500,000. Surplus planes have been made available since the end of the war, and we now have a very excellent fleet of 20 planes which services both fishery and game agents in the Territory. Congress, last year, appropriated $250,000 for a new airplane hangar and shop at Anchorage, and as a result our facilities for observation and patrol will be much improved in future years. Moreover, Alaska regulations are now being made and enforced without fear or favor.

CORRELATION WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Ten years ago, there were no effective means of correlating the needs of fish and wildlife with the construction programs of the Army Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. That is not the case today. The Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a River Basin staff whose responsibility it is to review the plans of the construction agencies while the projects are in the making. We work in close coordination with these two bureaus. Much has been done to protect and increase the fishery potentials in the reservoirs because of this service.

The relations of the Fish and Wildlife Service with the Congress and the Bureau of the Budget are excellent. The needs of both fisheries and wildlife are given sympathetic attention both as to appropriations and as to legislation. This, in my opinion, is due in large part to the fact that practically every member of the Congress has a personal interest in something that the Fish and Wildlife Service is doing. I doubt that there is another single agency of Government that has such wide interest for so many people as do the varied activities of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

SPORT FISHING AND HUNTING

Last year, there were 15 million people who bought fishing licenses and almost 13 million who bought hunting licenses. Another 2 million bought duck stamps to hunt ducks and geese. Many probably purchased all three kinds of licenses, but yet the fact remains that approximately one out of every five people in the United States is influenced in some degree by the activities of this Service. As such, the single organization known as the Fish and Wildlife Service wields much more power and influence than either the Bureau of Fisheries or the Biological Survey ever did before or would ever do again, if they were reconstituted separately.

DO YOU KNOW

KNOW..

FISH FACTS

That more than half of all species of verte

brates (animals with backbones) are fish

--Fishery Leaflet 132

A NEW FISHERY FOR GROOVED SHRIMP IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA

By Clarence P. Idyll

INTRODUCTION

In early February 1950, reports were received of large landings of grooved shrimp at Key West, Florida. At the request of the Florida State Board of Conservation, a preliminary investigation of this new fishery was made by the Marine Laboratory of the University of Miami. The purpose of the survey was:

(1) To establish the taxonomic identity and size of the shrimp being
caught.

(2) To determine the location and extent of the new grounds and the
type of bottom being fished.

(3) To estimate the volume of the landings and the number of boats
fishing.

Recommendations were requested concerning the possible need of regulation of the fishery by the State of Florida. The report of this survey was submitted to the Board of Conservation on February 14 (Idyll, 1950, 1).

The present paper incorporates the material of the above report and brings the situation up-to-date concerning landings, the area fished, and other particulars.

HEADED GROOVED OR BROWN SHRIMP (PENAEUS DUORARUM), SHOWING SIDE AND TOP VIEW AND INDICATING ACTUAL SIZE. (MIAMI DAILY NEWS.)

NEW GROOVED SHRIMP GROUNDS IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA ARE LOCATED NORTH OF A LINE DRAWN FROM KEY WEST TO LOGGERHEAD KEY IN THE DRY TORTUGAS GROUP. THE AREA PRESENTLY BEING FISHED EXTENDS A FEW MILES WEST OF LOGGERHEAD KEY, AND IS ABOUT 70 MILES LONG BY ABOUT 15 TO 20 MILES WIDE.

LOCATION AND EXTENT OF THE FISHING GROUNDS

The new shrimp grounds are located north of a line drawn from Key West to Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas group. The area presently being fished extends a few miles west of Loggerhead Key, and is about 70 miles long by about 15 to 20 miles wide. When the fishery began, in January and early February, it was concentrated on the westerly part of the above area, near Loggerhead Key. More recently, many of the boats have begun to fish closer to Key West, some within 15 miles of the city.

A small amount of successful fishing has been done outside the area described above. One boat is reported to have made a small catch in the daytime

close to Everglades City. It appears from this that expansion of the grounds is possible and it is likely that the area fished will be extended in the future.

KIND AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SHRIMP CAUGHT

The species of shrimp being caught is Penaeus duorarum, Burkenroad. This is commonly called the grooved, "Brazilian," brown, brown-spotted, or channel shrimp. In Key West, it is called the pink or coral shrimp because of its characteristic rosy color. It is marketed as the "Golden Brazilian" and "Golden Imperial Shrimp." The color varies from nearly white to a deep pink. Newly molted individuals tend to be the lightest in color. The red or pink spot on the side, which is characteristic of the species (Burkenroad, 1949; Broad, 1949) is distinct in most freshly-caught individuals, although in a few examined it was missing. The spot fades after death, and most shrimp did not show it by the time they were shipped from Key West.

Of 131 shrimp examined aboard a trawler, 75 (57.2%) were males and 56 (42.8%) were females.

The shrimp caught are of a large size, with those landed averaging from about 26 to 31 to the pound, heads off. This size has remained the same since the fishery began. Part of the catch is discarded as being too small to sell, but the proportion of undersized individuals is not large, so that there is little waste, at present, from this source.

MARKETING OF SHRIMP

Wholesale prices asked by dealers, who usually own and outfit the boats, started out at 55 cents a pound f.o.b. docks; towards the end of February this price dropped to 45-50 cents a pound. Retail prices in some Northern markets were originally about 79-85 cents a pound, and these prices fell somewhat as the volume of landings increased.

The shrimp being caught on the new grounds are firm and of good quality. They are said to keep well on ice and may be carried for a somewhat longer time without spoiling than the white shrimp (P. setiferus). The market demand for them has been good.

FISHING CONDITIONS AND GEAR USED

The shrimp boats operating on the new Key West grounds have encountered certain difficulties associated with a strange area, night-fishing, and the type of bottom encountered. The shrimp are found on white coral sand with some mud and shell and outcroppings of live and dead coral. The latter has caused the loss of a considerable amount of gear. Some boats have torn or lost several nets, in some cases, two in a single night. These nets cost in the neighborhood of $300 each.

Fishing has been done mostly in depths of between 15 and 25 fathoms, with the favored depths being around 18 to 20 fathoms.

Fishing is done at night, in contrast to the practice in the fishery for the common or white shrimp (P. setiferus). Some grooved shrimp are caught in the daytime, but catches at night are said to be at least three times greater. Groovedshrimp fishing in North Carolina and Texas is done at night also. The different

behavior of the grooved shrimp as compared with that of the white shrimp, which makes this night-fishing necessary, is not fully understood.

Standard fishing practice is employed. A try net, in the form of a miniature trawl, 'is dragged on likely ground until concentrations of shrimp are located. Then the big trawl is put out. trawl is put out. Try-net hauls are of about 5 to 15 minutes duration, regular hauls are of 2 to 3 hours duration. Three-hour hauls are possible in this fishery because of the comparatively small number of "trash" fish and other organisms caught with the shrimp. Three to five, usually four, hauls are made in a night.

After sorting, the shrimp are headed aboard the vessel in most cases. Then they are iced in the hold. Five to ten tons or more of ice are carried by each boat. The boats stay out from about 3 to 7 days per trip.