Brown shrimp: Can we see signs for a stock decline ?

Landings of brown shrimp (Crangon crangon L.) for human consumption from the North Sea had reached a maximum in 2005. The German share was 16 485 tonnes, i. e. 44.2 %. However, German landings declined in 2006 and the question arose, whether effort reductions or a reduced stock caused this development. Logbook data, basis for the German fisheries statistics, have been analysed and revealed a first decline in LPUE (landings per unit effort) after a series of years with positive development. Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries began publishing the Informationen aus der Fischereiforschung - Information on Fishery Research in 2010.