Tag Archives: spot shrimp

Commercial shrimpers adjusting to new spring fishing season

Three commercial pot shrimp fishery areas near Ketchikan are closed or set to close as fishermen approach area-specific spot shrimp harvest limits about two weeks after the fishery opened May 15. Fishermen targeting spot shrimp with pot gear this month are testing new waters after the Board of Fisheries during its 2022 rule-setting process voted to change the pot shrimp season start date from Oct. 1 to May 15; the fishery had occurred during fall and winter months since the mid-1900s. “It changed some of the players slightly, some of the people that typically fish in October are unavailable in the spring,” Meredith said. “You’ve got some new people on the grounds that weren’t available to do it in October that are now participating in May.” Meredith said that most of the fishermen who have been long-time pot shrimp fishermen “expected it to be a little different.” >click to read< 11:38

More prawns going to the personal use basket

Having been granted a new policy mandate by a bigger chunk of the annual non-tribal share of the harvestable part of the spot shrimp population, beginning Saturday, May 4, recreational shrimpers also will get more time to gather their catches. Heretofore, the non-treaty prawn or spot shrimp allocation was further split roughly 50-50 between commercial harvesters and personal use gatherers. continue