Giant cannibal shrimp more than a FOOT long invade
Apr 29, 2012 12:10:55 GMT -5
Post by PrisonerOfHope on Apr 29, 2012 12:10:55 GMT -5
Giant cannibal shrimp more than a FOOT long invade waters off Gulf Coast
Tiger shrimp are native to Asia though there have been more sightings in recent years
Prawns are known to grow to the size of lobsters and eat smaller shrimp
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 21:35 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 21:48 EST, 26 April 2012
A big increase in reports of Asian tiger shrimp along the U.S. Southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico has federal biologists worried the species is encroaching on native species' territory.
The shrimp are known to eat their smaller cousins, and sightings of the massive crustaceans have gone up tenfold in the last year, biologists say.
The black-and-white-striped shrimp can grow 13 inches long and weigh a quarter-pound, compared to eight inches and a bit over an ounce for domestic white, brown and pink shrimp.
Behemoth: This black tiger shrimp was caught in 210 feet of water off the coast of Louisiana; an invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse
Behemoth: This black tiger shrimp was caught in 210 feet of water off the coast of Louisiana; an invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse
Cannibals: Tiger shrimp have been known to eat their smaller cousins
Scientists fear the tigers will bring disease and competition for native shrimp. Both, however, can be eaten by humans.
‘They’re supposed to be very good,’ Pam Fuller, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN. ‘But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters.’
The last U.S. tiger shrimp farm closed in Florida in 2004, without ever raising a successful crop, according to a USGS fact sheet about the species.
Reports of tiger shrimp in U.S. waters rose from a few dozen a year - 21 in 2008, 47 in 2009 and 32 in 2010 - to 331 last year, from North Carolina to Texas.
'That's a big jump,' Ms Fuller told the Associated Press.
Worrying: If tiger shrimp continue to eat the other shrimp population, fisherman's livelihoods may be affected (file photo)
Worrying: If tiger shrimp continue to eat the other shrimp population, fisherman's livelihoods may be affected (file photo)
Massive: Some scientists have compared to tiger prawns to be the size of small lobsters
Massive: Some scientists have compared to tiger prawns to be the size of small lobsters
And those are just the numbers reported to the government.
'I've had fishermen tell me they have quit bringing them in.
'They are seeing large numbers in their catch - multiples per night,' said Morris, who works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Centre for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, North Carolina.
The increase 'is the first indication that we may be undergoing a true invasion of Asian tiger shrimp,' he said.
'Nobody knows what happened to their stock. But they have not been commonly caught in the area where that fish farm was,' she said.
She said hundreds were caught along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida after a storm hit a South Carolina shrimp farm in 1988, but none was reported in U.S. waters for the next 18 years. Six were reported in 2006, and four in 2007.
To find out whether last year's increase was a one-time spike or the vanguard of an invasion, the agencies are asking people to keep a wide eye for tiger shrimp, to report where and when they find them, and bring back frozen tiger shrimp to help learn where they're coming from.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135907/Giant-cannibal-shrimp-grow-13-INCHES-long-invade-waters-Gulf-Coast.html#ixzz1tRy6H1Xz
Tiger shrimp are native to Asia though there have been more sightings in recent years
Prawns are known to grow to the size of lobsters and eat smaller shrimp
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 21:35 EST, 26 April 2012 | UPDATED: 21:48 EST, 26 April 2012
A big increase in reports of Asian tiger shrimp along the U.S. Southeast coast and in the Gulf of Mexico has federal biologists worried the species is encroaching on native species' territory.
The shrimp are known to eat their smaller cousins, and sightings of the massive crustaceans have gone up tenfold in the last year, biologists say.
The black-and-white-striped shrimp can grow 13 inches long and weigh a quarter-pound, compared to eight inches and a bit over an ounce for domestic white, brown and pink shrimp.
Behemoth: This black tiger shrimp was caught in 210 feet of water off the coast of Louisiana; an invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse
Behemoth: This black tiger shrimp was caught in 210 feet of water off the coast of Louisiana; an invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse
Cannibals: Tiger shrimp have been known to eat their smaller cousins
Scientists fear the tigers will bring disease and competition for native shrimp. Both, however, can be eaten by humans.
‘They’re supposed to be very good,’ Pam Fuller, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey told CNN. ‘But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters.’
The last U.S. tiger shrimp farm closed in Florida in 2004, without ever raising a successful crop, according to a USGS fact sheet about the species.
Reports of tiger shrimp in U.S. waters rose from a few dozen a year - 21 in 2008, 47 in 2009 and 32 in 2010 - to 331 last year, from North Carolina to Texas.
'That's a big jump,' Ms Fuller told the Associated Press.
Worrying: If tiger shrimp continue to eat the other shrimp population, fisherman's livelihoods may be affected (file photo)
Worrying: If tiger shrimp continue to eat the other shrimp population, fisherman's livelihoods may be affected (file photo)
Massive: Some scientists have compared to tiger prawns to be the size of small lobsters
Massive: Some scientists have compared to tiger prawns to be the size of small lobsters
And those are just the numbers reported to the government.
'I've had fishermen tell me they have quit bringing them in.
'They are seeing large numbers in their catch - multiples per night,' said Morris, who works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Centre for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, North Carolina.
The increase 'is the first indication that we may be undergoing a true invasion of Asian tiger shrimp,' he said.
'Nobody knows what happened to their stock. But they have not been commonly caught in the area where that fish farm was,' she said.
She said hundreds were caught along South Carolina, Georgia and Florida after a storm hit a South Carolina shrimp farm in 1988, but none was reported in U.S. waters for the next 18 years. Six were reported in 2006, and four in 2007.
To find out whether last year's increase was a one-time spike or the vanguard of an invasion, the agencies are asking people to keep a wide eye for tiger shrimp, to report where and when they find them, and bring back frozen tiger shrimp to help learn where they're coming from.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2135907/Giant-cannibal-shrimp-grow-13-INCHES-long-invade-waters-Gulf-Coast.html#ixzz1tRy6H1Xz
