The response of shrimp fisheries to climate variability off Baja California, México

The effect of climate variability on the shrimp fishery in the upper Gulf of California and the west coast of southern Baja California was investigated using artisanal and industrial catches of blue shrimp (Litopenaeus stylirostris) and brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus califor-niensis). Catch data were compared with the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and remotely sensed environmental parameters, includ-ing sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a, coloured dissolved organic matter, and particulate organic carbon (Rrs412 and Rrs490). Overall, temperature was the best environmental indicator of commercial shrimp catches. Catches of blue shrimp varied directly and of brown shrimp indirectly with the SOI in their dominant areas, suggesting that the two species are influenced by El Niño con-ditions in different ways