April 7, 2017 — While shrimp conditions are good this year, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Commission isn’t ready to open the spring season early.
Commission members said at their meeting today in Baton Rouge that they want more data before setting the dates for the season.
Nearly all of the shrimpers at the meeting said they would rather wait for the season to open at the normal time so the shrimp can grow to be larger. The spring shrimp season usually opens in mid to late May.
LDWF biologist Jeff Marx said data he’s collected show better conditions than in previous years. Shrimp size, growth and development generally depend on the amount of rainfall, the temperature and salinity level of the water.
But shrimpers spoke against an early season.
“We have a year where Jeff’s data, so far, stated we have optimum weather for growth,” said Houma shrimper Barry Rogers. “I’ve spoken to factories, spoken to fishermen (and) everyone would like to see us at least work on 60 to 70 count (per pound) shrimp. It would be great for the fishermen and great for the processors.”