Shrimpers to get longer winter season

PORTLAND – New England shrimp fishermen are getting the longest season they’ve had in years.

With the shrimp population looking healthier, regulators have decided to allow shrimpers and processors to work 70 days this winter, from Dec. 19 to March 25.

Shrimping will be prohibited on Fridays and Saturdays in December and on Saturdays and Sundays from Jan. 3 to the season’s end in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s decision Monday is the result of a compromise between scientists, and fishermen and shrimp processors who wanted a longer season to bring a steadier supply into the market and stabilize prices.

While the commission didn’t go for a full 180-day season, the 70-day limit is up sharply from 40 days last winter, 38 days the previous year and 25 days the year before that.

Fishermen still face challenges posed by low shrimp prices, high fuel costs and international competition. So many processors got out of the business because of the shortened seasons that the price plummeted to as little as 40 cents per pound last year.

“Last year, we had shrimp knee deep, but we caught them for nothing,” said Marshall Alexander, a Saco fishermen who sells shrimp at the Portland Fish Exchange.

Alexander was optimistic the 70-day season will stabilize the prices, but competition from other countries that ship frozen shrimp around the world is likely to keep prices in check.

“We are a small player in that market,” said Commissioner George Lapointe of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.