Sidestriped shrimp (Pandalopsis dispar) are found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, ranging from the Bering Sea to northern Oregon. Sidestriped shrimp are ocean bottom dwellers, living from 45 to 640 meters (150 to 2100 feet) deep and prefer soft muddy bottoms. Shrimp are managed by the State of Alaska. Major stocks are assessed by trawl surveys, and occasional pot surveys have been conducted in Prince William Sound for spot shrimp. Assessed stocks are managed by an exploitation rate strategy, and depressed stocks below a threshold are closed to fishing. Stocks lacking surveys are managed by adjusting harvest levels based on indicators of stock status obtained from fishery catch-per-unit-effort and changes in stock age composition and size frequencies (Rigby et al. 1995).

The species of shrimp targeted by trawl gear are from the family Pandalidae. During 1969-1993, shrimp landings were comprised of a multispecies complex, including: pink shrimp (Pandalus borealis, 88.0%), coonstripe shrimp (Pandalus hypsinotus, 5.2%), spot shrimp (Pandalus platyceros, 4.5%), sidestripe shrimp (Pandalopsis dispar, 2.3%), and humpy shrimp (Pandalus goniurus, < 0.1%). Shrimp stocks are generally fully utilized (Rigby et al. 1995). This species grows to a larger size and has a higher market value than pink shrimp (Rigby et al. 1995). 

Off the Pacific Coast of Canada, seven of these species of shrimp, are harvested by the shrimp trawl fishery. Like Alaska fishery, the fishery varies in complexity from single species harvest to multi-species harvest, although pink and sidestripe shrimp are the main species targeted by the commercial trawl fleet. Estimates of biomass are based on fishery independent surveys for pink shrimp, sidestripe shrimp and sometimes for coonstripe and humpback shrimp for a select number of SMAs. Area-swept trawl surveys are conducted on a fixed schedule basis to index shrimp biomass and to monitor trends in abundance over time (DFO 2012).

The Alaska shrimp fishery began near Petersburg in 1915. Historically, large fisheries for pink shrimps were prosecuted in Kodiak and along the Aleutian Peninsula in the western Gulf of Alaska. Shrimps are harvested by trawl or pot gear. Pink, sidestripe, and humpy shrimps are caught almost exclusively by trawls. Otter trawls are the common trawl gear, although a beam trawl fishery has been prosecuted in Southeast Alaska for many years. Spot shrimp are caught in pots by fisheries primarily in Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound and coonstripe shrimp are caught largely in a pot fishery in lower Cook Inlet. Most shrimp are shelled by mechanical peelers and processed into a frozen product by at-sea or shoreside processors. Much of the catch of spot, coonstripe, and sidestripe shrimps are sold as a live or fresh product to local Alaska and foreign markets (Rigby et al. 1995).