Preliminary studies on the characteristics of growth of released prawn, Penaeus orientalis Kishinouye, for reproduction in middle Huanghai Sea fishing ground

The growing demand of prawn protein in the world has been demanding an increasing catch of prawn from the sea which,however,fails to meet the needs due to over exploitation.This ease has always been a keen subject among us fishery seientists.With the support and guidance of the Provincial Government of Shandong,the Shandong Fishery Bureau has been carrying out a project of "the Experimental Research on Large-scale Prawn Enhancement" in the middle Huanghai Sea (i.e,the southern waters off the Shandong Penensula).In this project,we released a large number of prawn larva successively in the Sanggou Bay,Jinghai Bay,Wuleidao Bay,Aoshan Bay,Tangdao Bay,Jiaozhou Bay,Lingshan Bay and Huangjiatang Bay (Fig.1) in 1984-1986.In this period,We released 1491 million prawn larva and caught 4 500 t commercial prawn,thus,the recapture rate was above 9%.