Maine's 2014 shrimp fishery cancelled just before start of season

According to the Rockland Courier Gazette, Maine's 2014 shrimping season, slated to start in January, has been cancelled - along with the rest of New England. Culprits: overfishing, acid pollution, warming water, three years of mass hatch failure

2015 Shrimp Season Cancelled. 

By Juliette Laaka, Courier Gazette - Knox Village Soup 12/3/13

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Northern Shrimp Section voted Dec. 3 to cancel the 2014 shrimp season due to a collapse of the stock, confirmed the organization's Director of Communications Tina Berger.

Commercial fishery plus 3 years of hatch failures = collapse.

"The writing has been on the wall for years," said Port Clyde Fresh Catch owner and former shrimp fisherman Glen Libby in response to the decision. He said he is not surprised, and added fishermen who went out last year did not earn much money.

"We are affected though, there's no shrimp to peel," he said.

Libby's company processes shrimp, and said during the winter, crabs will be the fill-in for his business. He added fishermen will most likely shift to catching scallops and continue fishing for lobster and crabs if they have the necessary permits.

He said the fishery will correct itself, citing the last year-long shutdown resulted in an increase in stock numbers.

The Last Tow? ASMFC: shrimpers must stay in port in 2014

Last year's season, which began in late January, yielded about a quarter of the allowable catch allotted the previous year, 1.4 million pounds. The commission's technical committee recommended not having a 2013 season due to over fishing and environmental stresses on the stock, but a shorter season with less yield was allowed.

Surveys indicate three successive years of recruitment failure and continuing warm temperatures mean poor prospects for the near future, both in terms of the fishery and for stock recovery. A season shut down is recommended to maximize spawning potential of the population.

The Gulf of Maine fishery for northern shrimp is managed through an interstate agreement between the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusett.

End

Maine Legislature considers elver fishery and shrimp dealers

Shrimp & Elver Salad

On March 1st the Maine Legislature's Marine Resources Committee, Led by Committee chair Lois Snow-Mello,  with DMR Commissioner Pat Keliher, held  a worksession on  LD 1765  An Act To Sustain the Elver Fishery, (Elvers are baby eels, entering freshwater for the first time).

The Committee also discussed what to do about shrimp dealers who misreport the catch Fines? Suspensions?

* Listen to the 15 minute committee discussion of the elver fishery bill

*Listen to the  6 minute discussion on whether sanctions  should be imposed on shrimp dealers who don't report honestly

Maine's upcoming 2012 shrimping season: harvest tonnage cut in half.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Northern Shrimp Section  has announced a total allowable catch (TAC) of 2,000 metric tons, (approximately 70 million individual shrimps) with the season closing when landings are projected to reach 95 percent of the TAC (1,900 mt).   

See youtube video of a Maine shrimping haul  (shrimp come aboard at the 7 minute mark)

Patrick Keliher, Maine's interim Commissioner of Marine Resources, said to FIS that the government will be monitoring the catch on a weekly basis to ascertain that fishers do not catch too many northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) and that they do not reach the quota limit too soon. Some 85-90 per cent of shrimp caught in the Gulf of Maine are landed in Maine.

Given the favorable stock condition of the last two years, the Section set relatively long fishing seasons in an effort to accommodate industry's demands for expanded fishing opportunities," stated Section Chair Doug Grout from New Hampshire.

ASMFC's Shrimp Section head blamed the fishermen's overkill of shrimp during the last two years.  "Unfortunately, substantial increases in both effort and participation resulted in early season closures and significant overages in both seasons – 28 per cent and 48 per cent overharvest in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, respectively. Consequently, the stock of this crustacean is now overfished and overfishing is occurring, requiring a shortened season and limited fishing opportunities in 2012," he explained.