Marine Biology Commons^™

Analyses Of Indices Of Abundance For Important Groundfish Species In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico From 1987-2009, Relative To Shrimp Bycatch; With Age And Growth Of Three Sciaenid Species, Allison Renee Odom

Master's Theses

Bycatch in the shrimp fishery became of particular concern in the 1980s during the peak of shrimp harvest in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Shrimp bycatch is of major importance because the majority of catch in the fishery is not intended target species of commercial shrimp, and most of the additional bycatch is returned to the sea dead or dying, inducing higher rates of mortality. This study was developed to assess the potential ecosystem effects of shrimp harvest on thirty selected species/species groups commonly encountered within the shrimp fishery as bycatch. Delta-lognormal modeling (DLM) was used to determine the relative …