ELBs Track Gulf Shrimping Effort


Articles Building a Better World 10 Questions on Marine Education Lou D'Abramo Awarded Honors ELBs Track Gulf Shrimping Effort Dr. Sharon Walker Promotes Ocean Literacy Mississippi Team Wins Hurricane Bowl Research in the Gulf Featured Publication From the Director Sea Briefs is a report on the results of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. Editor: Valerie Winn Top photo: Chris Snyder This newsletter is available in PDF format from: masgc.org/seabriefs MASGC supports applied, interdisciplinary marine science research, education and outreach efforts to foster the sustainable development and management of the Mississippi and Alabama coasts and nearshore ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium 703 East Beach Drive Ocean Springs, MS 39564 Phone: 228-818-8840 E-mail: seabriefs@masgc.org MASGP 07-011-02	ELBs Track Gulf Shrimping Effort Sea Grant personnel in Biloxi undertook a new project last year that will help LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc. of Bryan, Texas in their efforts to gather data used to develop a fishing effort profile of the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery. More of the Gulf’s offshore shrimp fleet is using electronic logbook (ELB) technology, and Sea Grant is providing a vital link between LGL scientists and fishermen participating in the study. In simple terms, shrimp fishing effort calculations use information from selected vessels on how much shrimp is caught, where it was caught, and how long it took to catch it. “Our role in this undertaking is to locate specific vessels, assist in hardware installation and maintenance, and swap out memory modules when the vessels visit ports in the northern Gulf to unload and pick up supplies,” said Dave Burrage with the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Extension Program in Biloxi. “In 2006, we added 19 vessels to the program. Because many of the boats in Mississippi and Alabama participating in this study are Vietnamese-owned and operated, the services of fisheries technologist Peter Nguyen, who speaks both Vietnamese and English, are crucial to this effort.” The program allows for the design and implementation of a shrimp effort and catch logbook process through voluntary agreement with randomly-selected vessels in the Gulf fishing fleet. Use of Global Positioning System (GPS) transponders has also been developed and deployed on selected vessels operating in the Gulf. Data from the logbook program and GPS monitoring will be integrated with data obtained from observers to evaluate existing bycatch and fishing mortality estimates. (Inset photo courtesy of LGL Ecological Research Associates.)