The state’s shrimp industry, traditionally known almost as much for its sweet delicacy as Maine lobster, is praying for relief come the end of the year.
Shrimp regulators will meet in December to determine whether to extend the current ban, Chelsea Tuohy, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission spokeswoman, told the Associated Press.
12 years ago the commission imposed a moratorium on shrimping due to the nearly decimated catch that was being blamed on warming water due to so-called climate change.
The “continued poor condition of the northern shrimp stock has resulted in uncertainties in the future status” of the seafood, the commission said in documents earlier this year.
“Environmental conditions continue to be unfavorable for northern shrimp in the Gulf of Maine,” the commission added.
Prior to the moratorium, the New England shrimp industry was based largely in Maine, with a handful of fishermen from Massachusetts and New Hampshire dabbling in the tiny pink delicacies.
Maine shrimpers sometimes caught more than 10 million pounds a year as recently as the early 2010s, but the catch cratered in 2013.
Shrimp filled a niche in the cold months, when fishing off shore for other species is a dangerous gamble even for the hardiest.
“Shrimp was just such a part of our winter culture here,” Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, told Marketplace.org earlier this year. “You know, shrimp was something that when you drove down the the coast, Route 1 in Maine, you’d see people on the side of the road selling shrimp.“
At its peak in 1996, the shrimp catch in Maine was about six percent of all seafood earnings in the state.
When regulators consider lifting the moratorium in December they could actually extend it for up to five years.
Recent changes allow regulators to extend the moratorium for five years at a time instead of just one.
