January 30, 2013 — In December, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission announced a 72 percent cut for the 2013 shrimping season, and Maine’s shrimping community is scrambling to adapt. The commission announced to set a quota of 625 metric tons, down from 2,400 metric tons in 2012, and stagger the season to start January 22 for trawlers and February 5 for trappers. The decision was made against the advice of its own Northern Shrimp Technical Committee, which recommended a moratorium for 2013. Shrimpers lobbied to keep the season open, saying even a small season is vital to keep the industry afloat.
There isn’t enough data to prove conclusively why the shrimp population has been decimated, but warming ocean temperatures likely play a major role, Waine said. The Gulf of Maine has seen record temperatures in recent years, and Northern shrimp in the gulf can’t tolerate the heat.
“These shrimp are in the southern extent of their range, which means they are in warm water to begin with,” he said. “Take that and add a lot of increased water temperature, and it’s not the best environment for shrimp.”
The shrimping industry also has been historically boom and bust when it comes to participation. Shrimping is seen as a supplemental-income fishery for both groundfishermen and lobstermen, and participation has spiked in recent years as the other fisheries have faltered.
“You can always count the boats in the fishery and see when you’re going to have a decline,” Libby said.
Libby hopes that enhanced efforts to provide real-time reporting of shrimp catches and new management regulations will help prevent overfishing this season. Curbing ocean temperatures will be more difficult, said Waine.
“All I can say is, I hope for a very cold winter for New England. The resource really needs it,” Waine said.
Read the full story at the Working Waterfront