Industry –IOOS Workshop Houston, Texas March 2-4, 2004 Gary L. Graham Professor and Marine Fisheries Specialist Texas Sea Grant Texas Cooperative Extension Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences Department Texas A&M University Industry –IOOS Workshop Houston, Texas March 2-4, 2004

Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture Shrimp Industry most valuable fishery in U.S. 230,000,000 pounds of product $379,000,000 ex-vessel value (decreased) U.S. consumption – 1.1 billion pounds 700,000,000 pounds of imports High dollar commodity does not translate into high margin enterprise for producers

Permitted Offshore Shrimp Vessels 2671 in January ’04 65-100’ lengths Average crew of 3 Freezer equipped – 90 % 30-50 day trips Often highly migratory Generally less than 50 fathoms Some specialty fishing (royal red shrimp)

Inshore Vessels Texas + 1000 Significant numbers throughout Gulf

Shrimp Fishery Applications Information to provide efficient running conditions Predictability of Shrimp Concentrations Currently some seabed features are consistent with production Knowledge of past harvests not always helpful Sophistication/Understanding of Potential

Shrimp Fishery Applications Advancement of Biological Understanding Larval Transport Migrations of Sub-adults and Adults Impacts of Physical and Chemical Factors Hypoxic/Anoxic Areas Noxious Blooms – Red Tide

Shrimp Vessels of Opportunity Cooperation exists Passive Systems probably necessary Florida – Texas Within 50 fathoms Some outside of the continental shelf

Aquaculture Shrimp – 8,000,000 Catfish Expanding Offshore Net Pens – Unclear Offshore Applications Could be Significant

Summary Vessels of Opportunity NASA Space Program Applications will present themselves