Abstract
Commercial shrimpers in the Mississippi Sound frequently encounter marine debris in their nets, resulting in the loss of time and catch, and added repair costs. However, there is no formal reporting procedure in place for reporting these interactions and, thus, little data exists on the types, abundances, or economic impact of marine debris in the Mississippi Sound. Prior to this study, no information existed on the spatial and temporal distribution of marine debris that shrimpers encounter within Mississippi Sound and the subsequent economic impact on commercial shrimping. Collection and dissemination of this information will help improve our understanding of the potential impacts of marine debris and implementation of preventive measures. Data collection leveraged an EPA project that incentivizes commercial shrimpers to remove the marine debris they encounter while shrimping while also collecting data about it. To characterize the quantity and impacts of marine debris, a sample of commercial shrimpers (20) were selected for a comprehensive data collection program. These participants are required to maintain a logbook for every marine debris encounter over the shrimping season, July 2020 through December 2020 , and use a GPS enabled camera to photograph every marine debris encounter. The logbook will contain information on time spent fishing, types of marine debris encountered, and lost fishing time due to damaged gear. These data are being used to generate maps of the spatial and temporal distribution of marine debris in the MS Sound using ArcPro while the total economic impacts of marine debris are measured using IMPLAN software.
