Federal regulators voted Thursday to extend a shutdown preventing New England fishermen from catching shrimp.
New England fishermen, especially those from Maine, used to catch millions of pounds of small pink shrimp in the winter, but the business has been under a fishing moratorium since 2014.
Rising temperatures have created an inhospitable environment for the shrimp, and their population is too low to fish sustainably, scientists have claimed.
An arm of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Thursday to shut down the fishery for at least another three years, according to Associated Press.
Abundance of the shrimp remained “poor” this year despite slightly improved environmental conditions, the commission said.
The decision came after shrimp harvesters were allowed to catch a small number of shrimp as part of an industry-funded sampling and data collection program.
The fishermen, who battled some rough weather, caught only 70 shrimp totaling less than three pounds.
