Skimmer Trawl Fishery Catch Evaluations in Coastal Louisiana, 2004 and 2005

Fishery observers collected data from 307 tows during 96 trips aboard skimmer trawl vessels in Louisiana’s coastal waters from September 2004 through June 2005 to estimate catch rates of target and nontarget species, including sea turtles (Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae), by area and season during commercial shrimping operations. About 16,965.7 kg of total catch were recorded during 517.0 hours of fishing operations. Based on weight extrapolations from species composition samples, penaeid shrimp (Penaeidae) dominated the catch at 66%, followed by finfish at 19%, nonpenaeid shrimp crustaceans at 7%, discarded penaeid shrimp at 6%, and debris at 3%. Noncrustacean invertebrates comprised less than 1%. Catch rates in kilograms per hour by category was 21.6 for penaeid shrimp, 6.2 for finfish, 2.2 for nonpenaeid crustaceans, 1.8 for discarded penaeid shrimp, and 0.9 for debris. White shrimp, Litopenaeus setiferus, other penaeid shrimp, and Gulf menhaden, Brevoortia patronus, were the top three dominant species by weight. Seasonally, a higher catch rate was observed from May through August 2005 for penaeid shrimp as compared with the September through December 2004 period. Conversely, the September through December 2004 period experienced a higher catch rate for finfish than during May through August 2005. No sea turtle interactions were documented.