SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — This winter’s catch rate, fishery landings limit and other topics are expected to be among the items discussed when Gulf of Maine shrimp fishery regulators meet this week at a local hotel.
Officials with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission are expected to meet at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, at the Marriott at Sable Oaks, near the Maine Mall. The meeting is open to the public.
One item on the commission’s agenda is the status of shrimp landings in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Pat Keliher, acting commissioner of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, said last week that all dealers of Gulf of Maine shrimp in the three states are required to file weekly reports about landings, but only roughly half of the dealers have filed reports since the season began on Jan. 2.
In recent years, only state-licensed dealers have been required to file landings reports, and they were required to do so only once a month. Regulators increased the reporting rate for this season to keep better track of landings and to try to avoid excessive catches that have led to premature shrimp fishery closures each of the past two years.
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