Effects of live-bait shrimp trawling on seagrass beds and fish bycatch in Tampa Bay, Florida

Meyer, David L. and Fonseca, Mark S. and Murphey, Patricia L. and McMichael, Robert H. and LaCroix, Michael W. and Whitfield, Paula E. and Thayer, Gordon W. (1999) Effects of live-bait shrimp trawling on seagrass beds and fish bycatch in Tampa Bay, Florida. Fishery Bulletin, 97(1), pp. 193-199.

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Abstract

The use of live shrimp for bait in recreational fishing has resulted in a controversial fishery for shrimp in Florida. In this fishery, night collections are conducted over seagrass beds with roller beam trawls to capture live shrimp, primarily pink shrimp, Penaeus duorarum. These shrimp are culled from the catch on sorting tables and placed in onboard aerated “live” wells. Beds of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, a species that has highest growth rates and biomass during summer and lowest during the winter (Fonseca et al., 1996) are predominant areas for live-bait shrimp trawling (Tabb and Kenny, 1969). Our study objectives were 1) to determine effects of a roller beam trawl on turtlegrass biomass and morphometrics during intensive (up to 18 trawls over a turtlegrass bed), short-term (3-hour duration) use and 2) to examine the mortality of bycatch finfish following capture by a trawl.

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