The main goals of this project are to refine reproductive assessments of white shrimp and to improve our understanding of the sensitivity of reproductive phenology to environmental variability.
Specific project objectives include strengthening our understanding of the relationship between macroscopic characteristics and histologically-based metrics of reproductive condition (especially the identification of individuals that have previously spawned) for female white shrimp, developing a visual guide to standardize field-based macroscopic assessments of reproductive status in female white shrimp, investigating existing datasets to determine temporal trends in the timing of reproductive development and its relationship with environmental conditions and climate indices, field-testing standardized reproductive status assessment methods for female white shrimp in South Carolina and Georgia, and documenting spatial variability in the onset of reproductive activity in female white shrimp across South Carolina and Georgia.
This project will provide fishery managers with access to more detailed biological data, supporting a more informed decision-making process regarding the opening of the spring commercial shrimp season.
Project Update
Under development is a best practices guide for macroscopically determining ovarian development under field conditions. This guide will be made publicly available and distributed to regional state agencies responsible for the management of shrimp.