January 15, 2014 — The Maine shrimp season is just a fond memory this year. With the 2014 season closed because of a stock collapse, there will be no shrimp chowders to warm your belly. No decadent, creamy shrimp risottos. No sweet, delicate shrimp to toss into your favorite pasta dish.
Well, almost.
With so many people pining for the tiny crustaceans, I thought it would be interesting to see if there are still any frozen shrimp out there from the 2013 season for consumers to snap up before they’re gone for good. I also checked in with some Maine restaurants to see what they will be offering on their menus as an alternative to Maine shrimp.
A round of calls and emails to Maine fish markets and grocery stores confirmed that there’s hardly any Maine shrimp left out there in the consumer pipeline, except for Hannaford grocery stores.
“In terms of frozen shrimp from last year, we do have a limited supply in some stores,” said Hannaford spokesman Eric Blom.
Tom Keegan, who handles shrimp and lobster sales for Cozy Harbor Seafood on Portland’s Union Wharf, said the Hannaford shrimp are cooked, peeled Cozy Harbor Maine shrimp found in 9-ounce packages in the frozen seafood case.
“They do have some product in most of the stores now, I believe,” Keegan said. “I’m not sure how long it will last. We really don’t have anything to follow it up with.”
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald