May 24, 2014 — After an uneasy wait, local shrimpers will take to the water as the inshore brown shrimp season opens this week.
Local processors say they are expecting a mad dash with prices holding high in a season that will likely be shorter than normal. Inshore waters between Freshwater Bayou and the Mississippi River open at 6 a.m. Monday.
“It is going to be derby style this year,” said David Chauvin, who owns David Chauvin's Seafood Co. in Dulac and the Mariah Jade Shrimp Co. in Chauvin. “They know they have 35 days for production at the most. You can bet they are going to put as much effort as they possibly can. They are going to try to pull as many days out at sea as they can.”
Spring winds push shrimp larvae out of the colder, deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico and into the calm marsh and wetlands where they can grow freely, unfettered by the hazards of the open ocean. But one of the coldest winters on record has dampened the growth of Louisiana's inland brown shrimp.
Read the full story at The Houma Courier