Tag Archives: Maine shrimp
ASMFC scientists conclude Maine’s shrimp fishery should stay shut down
A scientific committee says Maine’s shuttered cold water shrimp fishery should stay shut down for at least another year. The shrimp fishery has been shuttered since the end of 2013 because of low populations. Scientists say warming ocean temperatures off New England are inhospitable for the shrimp. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission says a scientific committee that studies the shrimp reports the species still faces “poor prospects for the near future.” The committee is recommending the commission extend the moratorium on fishing for the shrimp through 2017. An arm of the Atlantic States that deals with Maine shrimp will meet to make a decision about the coming fishing year on Nov. 10 in Portsmouth. link 15:53
Maine shrimp – get ’em while they’re hot!
Thanks to a study being conducted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, four trawlers and two trappers have been selected to collect samples of northern shrimp from the Gulf of Maine. Each participating trawler is required to conduct five research trips in one region, and is being compensated $500 per trip. Each would be allowed to sell up to 1,800 pounds of shrimp per trip. Good article! Read the article here 17:30
Maine Shrimp Hitting Market Thanks to Spawning Study
Despite a moratorium on the northern Maine shrimp fishing season for the third consecutive year, a few wholesale buyers, restaurants, and markets could have some Maine shrimp on their hands — and plates — this winter, due to a scientific study currently underway throughout the state.,, As part of the program, four shrimp trawlers and two trappers are collecting northern shrimp samples for biologists until mid-April, in order to study the timing of the egg hatch and the size, gender and developmental stage of the shrimp. Those shrimp not used for the sample are allowed to be sold. The sampling program allows participating fishermen to land a total of just over 48,500 pounds of shrimp from the Gulf of Maine. Read the post here 09:04
2016 Maine shrimp fishing season canceled
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section voted Monday to cancel the 2016 Maine shrimp fishing season. A report written by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Technical Committee said, “Given the depleted condition of the resource and poor prospects for the near future, the NSTC recommends that the Northern Shrimp Section extend the moratorium on fishing through 2016.” Read the article here 17:18 Then this, Maine shrimp fishing ban extended amid warming water fear 17:33
Canadian shrimp imports up as Maine fishery remains closed
Maine fishmonger Glen Libby made a disheartening discovery on Easter Sunday brunch — the cold water shrimp on the menu at a restaurant up the street from his fish market were from Canada, not New England. Canadian imports of the sweet, quarter-sized crustaceans are turning up more in American restaurants and seafood markets since a ban on fishing for Maine shrimp dried up local sources. Read the rest here 13:16
Maine Shrimp Sampling Project haul fetches a record price at the Portland auction.
Buyers snatched up 1,200 pounds of Maine shrimp at the Portland Fish Exchange on Thursday, paying an average $4.02 per pound, a record price and more than twice what shrimp fetched in 2013. The record price stems from scarcity. The shrimp that sold at auction Thursday were caught by one of the three Maine fishermen involved in a sampling project to help state biologists track the timing of egg hatch, size, gender and developmental stages of the shrimp. Read the rest here 09:53
Feds shut down Maine shrimp season again
For the second year in a row, federal rregulatorsvoted Wednesday to cancel the shrimp season, leaving fishermen, processors and distributors without income during the tough winter months. “It’s a big blow in the winter when it’s slow for lobstering and ground fishing with our size boats and the shrimp is big. It fills a big void in the middle of the winter,” said shrimp harvester and processor Dave Osier. Video, Read the rest here 10:52
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission may/will shut down Maine shrimp AGAIN!
A technical committee that advises federal regulators strongly recommends extending a moratorium that began in 2014. A draft of the committee’s report says “long-term trends in environmental conditions” are unfavorable for the shrimp. The report pins the decline of the cold-water shrimp on rising ocean temperatures. Read the rest here 13:46
Groundfishing aground? The rise and fall of Maine’s offshore fishing industry – Lobster catch keeps going up, up, up
“I was here from 1989-1996, when we opened up at 4 a.m. and sometimes ran until midnight,” says General Manager Bert Jongerden,,, Now, Portland is a distant third behind New Bedford and Gloucester. The reasons are many, but Jongerden says the Portland Fish Exchange’s fortunes very much have mirrored the rise and fall of New England’s offshore fishing industry over the past 30 years. Read the rest here 11:32
Maine Shrimp: “We are screwed,” – Warming ocean, absence of springtime plankton surge, predation by other species, and of course the “obligatory” overfishing
An advisory council had recommended that the fishery remain open on a limited basis in 2014, from mid-February through March. Past seasons have run from December through May. Spencer Fuller, the shrimp product line manager for Cozy Harbor Seafood in Portland, said that recommendation was rejected by the commission, which represents Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He said the compromise would have kept the industry going and prevented its reputation from being damaged in world markets. “We felt the risk of any damage to the fishery based on that proposal would have been minimal,” Fuller said. “We certainly don’t agree with (the commission’s) Draconian approach.” more@portlandpress 17:50
Gulf of Maine shrimp season a bust
Gary Libby, a fisherman in Port Clyde, said he caught 800 pounds of the small, sweet shrimp on his best day this winter. Last year he averaged 2,000 pounds a day. “We were expecting it to be bad going in, but we weren’t expecting it to be as bad it was,” he said. Shrimp provide a small but important fishery for New England fishermen each winter. About 90 percent of the annual harvest is caught by Maine boats, with New Hampshire and Massachusetts fishermen accounting for the rest. continue
