"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 said. An arm of the regulatory Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted Thursday to shut down the fishery for at least another three years."
"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 3 pounds. However, "even with the bad weather, exceptionally low catch levels observed throughout the program reinforce concerns about the viability of the northern shrimp stock in the Gulf of Maine," the documents state."
New England small pink shrimp populations have declined sharply as warming ocean temperatures created inhospitable conditions, leading to a fishery moratorium since 2014. Regulators voted to extend the shutdown for at least three more years because abundance remained "poor" despite slightly improved environmental conditions. An industry-funded sampling program allowed limited harvests and produced only 70 shrimp totaling less than three pounds, reinforcing concerns about stock viability. Historically, fishermen sometimes landed over 10 million pounds in a year, but Maine catches fell dramatically after 2013, dropping to under 600,000 pounds in 2013 from much higher levels previously.
Read at Boston.com
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