A dramatic shift in historical balance is also evident within the bay fishery itself, with the previous emphasis on white shrimp being redirected to brown shrimp. This shift in shrimping effort toward brown shrimp is cause for concern. These appear to be ecologically unsustainable trends. A reflection of this increasing risk for the shrimp population and increasing problem for the individual shrimper is the overall decline in the catch in pounds per trawling hour of brown shrimp in the bays. As the bay fleet focuses more effort to capture smaller and smaller shrimp, the ability of shrimp stocks to maximize their growth potential is reduced.
Small shrimp being harvested in bays can double their weight in only two weeks.
Delaying harvest of these shrimp results in larger shrimp, which are worth more to the shrimper per pound. Of concern is the effect of increasing shrimp trawl effort on bay bottom habitat, estuarine food chains, and bycatch species such as Atlantic croaker and sand seatrout. In summary, there has been a dramatic rise in the pounds of bay shrimp landed. This rise is fueled by the harvest of the smallest size shrimp, and this harvest is the result of more shrimping effort. The bottom line for the individual shrimper has been a decline in catch for each hour of shrimping effort.