Investigation and Assessment of the Exploitation Strategies of the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of California

Shrimp is the most valuable fishery resource in Mexico, representing almost 40% of the total
production landed, with revenues of more than US $ 132 million per year and with more than 30,000
direct and indirect jobs. Three penaeid shrimp species account for >95% of the wild stock of the
Pacific coast. The blue and brown shrimp of the southern Gulf of California are exploited to their
maximum capacity, while white shrimp is considered over-exploited. The stocks were evaluated with a
simulation model. In current fishing the age of first catch is overexploiting juveniles; therefore,
increasing the age of first catch from 4 to 5 months is one of the recommendations. Then two fishing
scenarios were tested, the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) and the MSY/fisher. On the impossibility
to address particular policies for each species, it was concluded that for the MSY scenario, 1000
permits per season would fulfill most of requirements; in the second case (MSY/Fisher), by reducing
the current number of boats to 530, would achieve the required goal.