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Giant cannibal shrimp worry Gulf Coast watchers
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the Gulf of Mexico, a new menace, this one striped like a big cat, is preying on aquatic life: The black tiger shrimp.
The biggest saltwater shrimp in the world, black tigers “are cannibalistic as are other shrimp but it’s larger so it can consume the others,” Tony Reisinger, country extension agent for the Texas Sea Grant Extension Service, told CNN on Friday.
Because of the threat of disease, the predatory intruder poses a problem for the native shrimp and oyster population of the Gulf, Reisinger said.
"Our oystermen right now are hurting because the oyster season is shut down due to a red tide. But this (black tiger) shrimp poses other concerns,” he said.
Appearing more than 25 years ago, the black tiger’s sudden reappearance is a mystery.
“The first time they started appearing was in the late 1980s on the East Coast,” he said. “Then they disappeared in 1991.”
But following the record-breaking hurricane season of 2005, which brought successive monster storms Katrina, Rita and Wilma, they started showing up again, he said.
“They’re well over 1,000 of them in the Gulf of Mexico now,” he said. “We’ve had five of them caught off Texas.”
Reisinger said he spoke to the Brownsville-Port Isabel Shrimp Producers Association recently to warn them about the shrimp but he was too late.
“It turns our fishermen have been catching them for a while, but they didn’t think they were marketable so they were throwing them back,” he said.
Is there a harvestable population already established in the Gulf? What does that mean for the Louisiana and South Texas shrimp and oyster industry? Many questions remain, Reisinger said.
On Twitter
“They’re well over 1,000 of them in the Gulf of Mexico now,” he said. “We’ve had five of them caught off Texas.”
I think you meant "There are well over 1,000 of them in the Gulf of Mexico now,” he said. “We’ve had five of them caught off Texas." Which can't be contracted to "There're" even if that is what the source said. Are you guys hiring for copy editors?
[sic]
I've eaten these guys that big. Delicious!
Larger shrimp tend to not be as tasty as the smaller ones.
Round them up for Iron Chef America!
Black shrimp, pink shrimp...I assume one is as tasty as the other.
Ha ha. They're all pink on the inside anyway !!
I eat, almost exclusively, black tiger shrimp. That's simply what we get at CostCo or even Safeway, where I live in Hawaii – they are shipped in from Vietnam and the Philippines, IIRC. The one in the picture is certainly a big one, but with the head off, it looks like it would be somewhere between the U-5 and U-8's I buy at CostCo all the time (only 5 or 8 shrimp per POUND, respectively – they are huge). Don't worry Gulf Coast, this is a delicious infestation.
I cant think of a reason to be concerned they look not only marketable but absolutely delicious! After seeing that big shrimping show on the history channel I can see why they would throw them back though. Those guys dont look to bright and if you put them all together in a line you know what you get? a full set of teeth!
One day creatures from the sea are going to crawl out of the ocean and eat us all.
They have already. Remember Godzilla??
Sounds like they are non-native and they are worried they will bring in diseases that are not native to the area, thus, no immunity. Thus, possibly destroying the shrimp industry of the gulf coast. But that certainly isn't clear from this article.
Hey just solve the problem by bathing these menaces with lemons and melted butter....
Is it "All you can eat" shrimp time now?
They eat other shrimp so it's like a giant shrimp STUFFED with smaller shrimp!!
giant shrimp.......... too funny !!
Stupid to call these cannibal shrimp. Everything in the ocean preys on something else. We're all part of the food web when we're in the salt.
Tastes like chicken!
Fishermen complaining about catching jumbo shrimp. What are they think? $5 a pound, Yummy!
If giant shrimp like this are $5 a pound where you are, I WANT TO MOVE THERE! Here in Northridge Cali they are getting like $11 a pound or more, and you only get 6 or 7 of these beasties. My 3 growing boys can eat 6 or 7 of these at a sitting along with rice and a salad and come back for a snack in 2 hours. *sigh*