"We are shrimping because we are out of fish (quota)," Gloucester Capt. Ricky Beal said last month. Beal said he had turned back to catching shrimp this year for the first time since 1997, and the shrimp harvest had helped and others through the winter.
"I don't have any choice (but to go shrimping). I'm just about out of codfish (quota)," added Paul Theriault, the Rockport owner and the captain of the 42-foot Terminator.
Regulators are considering putting an early end to the New England shrimp season because fishermen are catching too many of them.
An early closure would be ironic for a number of Gloucester-based fishermen, who turned to shrimping this winter when they faced tight constrictions on their groundfishing permits.
The harvest has been strong because of a healthy shrimp population, more fishing pressure and stable markets that have resulted in strong prices, said Glen Libby, a shrimp fisherman who works out of Port Clyde, Maine, and serves as president of the Midcoast Fishermen's Cooperative, which processes and sells shrimp under the Port Clyde Fresh Catch label.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.