Tag Archives: commercial shrimp trawling

South Carolina’s shrimp harvest to open June 1

Commercial shrimp trawling is set to open in all legal South Carolina waterways on Thursday morning. Harvesting season typically opens in full by mid-to-late May after the opening of eight smaller provisional areas in the outer waters. But officials with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) said those provisional waters opened at the end of April, which allowed shrimpers to begin harvesting some larger white shrimp further offshore while “still protecting most of the spawning population closer to shore.” >click to read< 14:07

Shrimp trawling season to be ‘typical’ despite December cold snap

Approaching the opening date for commercial shrimp trawling, one of the South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources (SCDNR) employees sampling the population said there was an initial concern about the cold weather last December, but he doesn’t believe it’s significant enough to affect this year’s season. DNR sets the opening date for all general zones based on shrimp reproduction along the coast, especially making sure white shrimp had enough time to reproduce. Since cold weather affects shrimp migration, this time is especially important to make sure there’s enough for fishermen through the season. >click to read< 14:32

A “shot across the bow”: Shrimp trawl decision was a close call for consumers

After two days of public hearings during which few participants voiced any support for the proposed closures, the commission voted 5-4 to include an additional 10,000 acres to the existing 1 million acres already closed to shrimp trawling. Ostensibly the proposed closure, had it been approved, would have shut down approximately 119 small independent commercial shrimpers whose vessels, ranging 35-50 feet in length, are too small to trawl in the open ocean. But, as the large number of speakers noted during the Marine Fisheries Commission meeting noted, the closure would have far greater impact. >click to read< 09:19