Carolin Julie NEVEN

As part of the PECOC research project (Small-scale Coastal Fishing for Grey and White Shrimps), funded by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), I am studying the life cycle of two ecologically important species in the Seine estuary: the common shrimp (Crangon crangon) and the white shrimp (Palaemon longirostris). This research aims to gain a better understanding of the still poorly understood life cycle of these species (particularly the larval stages) and their long-term population dynamics (a decline in shrimp stocks for both species having been reported over the last 25 years). 
To this end, bimonthly trawl surveys will be conducted at around 30 stations to collect adults, followed by biometric measurements (size, weight, sex, reproductive status), and monthly plankton net surveys will be carried out at around 10 stations to collect planktonic larval stages, followed by biometric measurements (identification of species and larval stages). These experiments will enable to characterise the spatial and temporal variations in the presence of individuals and thus to provide a detailed understanding of the life cycle of these two species, which have been used as ecotoxicological models in laboratory studies for several years to develop tools for the biomonitoring of aquatic environments.