January 14, 2019 — South of the Virginia border, the shores off Corolla have become an Outer Banks hot spot to catch winter shrimp.
Trawlers have clustered there within 3 miles of shore in recent weeks, each bringing in as much as 20,000 pounds of the delicacy per trip.
Last week, the “Capt. Ralph” hauled in 30,000 pounds, the most ever for the crew, said Ashley O’Neal, manager of O’Neal’s Sea Harvest.
In the past, 12,000 pounds was a good catch no matter where it came from, he said.
“This 30,000-pound stuff is unheard of,” O’Neal said. “We are seeing a lot of shrimp.”
In 2016, North Carolina shrimpers harvested a record 13.2 million pounds, worth $28.2 million. It was a 45 percent increase over the previous year, according to state statistics. The record fell again in 2017 with a harvest of 13.9 million pounds worth $29.6 million. The 10-year average is just short of 8 million pounds. Most of the catch comes from estuaries like the Pamlico Sound.
Shrimp consumption in the United States reached a new record in 2017 at 4.4 pounds a person per year, making it America’s favorite seafood, according to NOAA Fisheries. More than 90 percent of what’s eaten in the U.S. comes from foreign markets raised on farms.