228 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
The Shrimping Industry in Essex*
M. N. MISTAKIDIS
(Fisheries Laboratory, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex)
THE Thames Estuary is known widely for its shrimp fishery.
Crabs and lobsters are found only in small numbers, since
these species prefer a rugged coast and rough sea-bottom during
their life, especially during the earlier part, and also after
moulting.
The shrimps fished in the Thames area are of two kinds,
the "brown" (Crangon vulgaris L.) and the "pink" or "red"
(Pandalus montagui Leach). The pink shrimp is more allied to
the true prawn (Palaemon (= Leander) serratus), and perhaps
it is this similarity that it is known in other parts of the country
as "Fleetwood prawn", "sprawn" or "Aesops prawn". The true
prawn and the allied species (Palaemon squilla) are irregularly
distributed in the Thames Estuary, but occasionally they are
found amongst pink shrimp catches.
Shrimps, brown and pink, are found all around the English
and Welsh coastline, but their densities vary considerably from
area to area. The three main centres of the shrimp fishery are
the Wash, the Thames Estuary, and the Lancashire coast. Land-
ings of pink and brown shrimps at ports on the above-mentioned
areas amount approximately to 80 per cent of total landings.
The total landings of shrimps for England and Wales during the
past 48 years show that they fluctuate between 17,500 and 73,000
cwts. (Fig. 1). As far as landings are concerned the Thames
Estuary is second in importance, the Wash being first. Certain
distinct falls in landings may have been due to the reduced effort
1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955
Figure 1.—Landings of pink and brown shrimps in England and Wales
for the years 1910 to 1958.
*Paper given for the Essex Field Club, at West Ham Technical College,
17th January, 1959.