As they mention, regs here stipulate a 48qt limit, unless you ‘head’ them out on the water, which then allows 29qts.

To give an idea, here’s our recent catch that went right up to the brim:

From the Shem Creek blog.

Throwing pancakes for shrimp (with your grits)

From the Shem Creek blog.

Shem Creek Shrimp and Grits

It took 10 years, but scientists have engineered a new shrimp through selective breeding: the Australian Black Tiger prawn – kin to our Atlantic white shrimp.

While their work was centered around economics (they import 50% of their prawns), it also goes towards sustainability, since the new Black Tiger prawn is raised in drought-proof salt water ponds – a big plus for scorching hot Australia.

“Globally, aquaculture has been the fastest growing food production sector since the 1950s, approximately doubling production each decade” – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

If you get a stack of them lined up on your grill, I’d love to see a photo!

From the Shem Creek blog.

Australian Black Tiger prawn – the newest shrimp on the block

A recent poll by Louisiana State University of Gulf area residents found 57% of them said they were less likely to buy local seafood because of the spill.
– Seafood.com

True, you may be worried about seafood like Gulf residents are right now, but know this:

• of the 17% of the seafood Americans eat that comes from domestic sources, only 2% of that comes from the Gulf, according to the National Fisheries Institute, a trade group.

If everybody were aware of those numbers, the seafood market would largely remain stable throughout this environmental crisis. It still doesn’t solve the problem shrimpers are having with a huge reduction in supply out in the ocean though, but for shrimpers willing and able to make an occupational shift of sorts, shrimp farming may be an option worth looking into.

I had no idea how widespread shrimp farming is around the world until I just watched this video from Texas (A&M I think). I touches on all the different steps needed to get a shrimp farm going, but I’ll tell you right now, you’re probably gonna need some serious financial backing to get this project going.

According to Wikipedia, the U.S. hit a high of 5,000 tonnes of farmed shrimp production per year back in 2003 and 2004, but we’ve since slid back to 2,000 tonnes of farmed shrimp production (as of 2007); who knows, maybe you can get a piece of the market now.

Anyway, this diagram from SCDNR shows all the stages shrimp go through in their life cycle, something you’ll be intimately involved in if you work on a shrimp farm. Happy harvesting!

From the Shem Creek blog.

Shrimp: if you can’t catch’em, grow’em

Those that do make it out will be rewarded with a nice catch – assuming everything goes according to plan – because SCDNR officials say shrimp have been keeping their own out in the ocean – the question, “is how many boats are gonna be out there to catch them?”

SCDNR also says that the in-water catch rate of immature loggerheads has been increasing, which at first sounds alarming, but then you realize it means management efforts such as nest protection and the required use of Turtle Excluder Devices (TED’s) in commercial shrimp trawl nets may be paying off.

“…in the Charleston shipping channel, catch rates have increased significantly since 1990.” – SCDNR

Although sea turtles were not captured in 75% of the tows, several noteworthy trends were evident for the 25% of tows that did capture sea turtles:

• * Loggerhead sea turtles accounted for 94 percent of all sea turtle species captured.
• * There was a strong north/south gradient in catch rates, with highest catch rates off northern Florida and southern Georgia.
• * A strong north/south gradient in loggerhead size was noted, with the greatest frequency of smaller loggerheads collected off northern Florida & southern Georgia.
• * Significant increases in catch rates were observed between 2000 & 2008 for two sizes of loggerheads, notably the size representing reproductively mature adults and the next smallest size group.

From the Shem Creek blog.

Commercial shrimp season starts, more turtles are being caught

Currently a saltwater recreational fishing license is required for people:

• * Harvesting oysters or clams
• * Fishing for fin-fish from a private boat or transporting catch in a private boat.

The new legislation will also require a saltwater recreational fishing license for:

• * Recreationally fishing from shore (beach, bank, private dock, free public pier, etc.)
• * Recreationally harvesting shrimp and/or crab.

We can purchase a license 24/7 via 1-866-714-3611 or www.dnr.sc.gov/purchase.html.

There are a few exceptions allowing people to harvest marine resources without a saltwater recreational fishing license:

• * fishing off a licensed commercial public fishing pier,
• * fishing off a licensed for-hire vessel (charter and headboats),
• * taking shrimp over bait (still required to have Shrimp Baiting License)
• * fishing with 3 or fewer drop nets,
• * fishing with 3 or fewer fold-up traps, and
• * fishing with 3 or fewer handlines with a single bait and no hooks (chicken necking).

A South Carolina resident 64 years or older may obtain a statewide lifetime hunting & fishing license which includes the privilege of saltwater fishing. A person who has been a South Carolina resident for at least one year, and has been determined to be totally disabled, may obtain a statewide fishing & hunting license which includes the privilege of saltwater fishing.

Revenue generated from Saltwater Recreational Fishing License sales will be used for the direct benefit of South Carolina’s marine recreational fisheries. – SCDNR

The same Saltwater Recreational Fishing License fees remain:

• * 14-day Resident – $5
• * Annual Resident – $10
• * 14-day Non-Resident – $11
• * Annual Non-Resident – $35

From the Shem Creek blog.

Saltwater Recreational Fishing License changes

When Kemp Toomer of Bluffton, S.C. caught this jumbo shrimp, his “crewman jumped back from the pile because he was scared of it,” Payne remembered with a laugh. “It was big and black and snapping. … He had never seen a shrimp that color and that size. It was new to him.”

It’s unclear exactly where the Asian tiger shrimp came from, but these record size shrimp have been caught off South Carolina over the last few weeks. Other Asian tiger shrimp sightings range from Florida to N.C., Alabama, and Louisiana.

“As far as I know, no one in this country is cultivating (them). There have been a number of (tiger) shrimp farms in the Caribbean. … With all the storms down there, one possibility is ponds have been breached and these things have gotten out.” – SCDNR marine biologist David Knott

Another possibility is that the Asian tiger shrimp is what remains from a stocked pond that accidentally released shrimp back in ’88 at the SCDNR-operated Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton.

SCDNR isn’t calling the lobster sized shrimp an invasive species since the Asian tiger shrimp aren’t causing harm to any other species, but then again, that’s what the Asians thought when kudzu came into America over 50 years ago.

When you have a shrimp as big as a lobster, hopefully it will give a spike to the South Carolina shrimping industry – we sure could use one!

From the Shem Creek blog.

Lobster-size tiger shrimp caught off SC

“We have a treadmill for blue crabs, and are making one for lobsters too” Dr. Burnett said on The Today Show this morning.

Anyway, here is their short explanation of the process before watching the shrimp exercise to “The Final Countdown”:

The central hypothesis underlying my research is that infectious disease can compromise the respiratory systems of lower vertebrates and invertebrates and thereby limit the ability of animals to sustain and recover from normal activities. Working with colleagues at College of Charleston’s Grice Marine Laboratory and Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, we have demonstrated that in resting animals bacterial infection can compromise normal metabolic function.

Of course, if “The Final Countdown” isn’t your type of music, you can always pick another shrimp on a treadmill video.

From the Shem Creek blog.

Shrimp on a treadmill, from CofC to YouTube sensation

If you don’t have any with you right now though, just click the thumbnail for a photo of how they see light reflected, a trait brought on by nature for their need to hunt for food from the ocean floor, and at the same time, hide from their predators.

_{[img src: Science Daily & Discover Magazine]}

From the Shem Creek blog.

To see what shrimp see, just wear polarized glasses!