Data PDF Version Northern Shrimp by Josef Idoine Northern or pink shrimp, Pandalus borealis , are distributed discontinuously throughout boreal waters of the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Arctic Oceans. In the Gulf of Maine, northern shrimp are considered to comprise a unit stock. The Gulf of Maine is the southern limit of the species' distribution in the North Atlantic, and temperature is an important factor in ontogenetic rates and reproductive success for this stock. Northern shrimp are protandrous hermaphrodites. After spawning and egg extrusion in summer, ovigerous females move to coastal waters in late autumn, where eggs hatch in wintertime.
Juveniles remain inshore for more than a year and then migrate offshore as they begin to mature.
A directed otter trawl fishery for northern shrimp began in coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine during the winter months in the 1930s. After 1972, landings declined rapidly, leading to increasingly restrictive management measures and closure of the fishery in 1978. Landings then increased to 6,800 mt in 1995 and to 9,500 mt in 1996. The latter figure has been exceeded only during the peak years of the fishery just prior to the 1970s stock collapse. Landings then declined from 6,300 mt in 1997 to 1,700 mt in 1999 and then rose to 2,400 mt in 2000 with recruitment of the 1996 year class.