Small winter catch set for New England’s long-closed shrimp industry, a climate casualty

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — New England shrimp will come back to seafood counters in small amounts next year under a research fishing program. The shrimp have been lost from the marketplace as waters have warmed. For a decade now, the seafood industry has been under a fishing moratorium for the shrimp because of concerns about low population levels that scientists attribute to climate change. That moratorium is going to remain in place since regulators say the population has failed to improve. However, regulators say this coming winter there will be a fishing industry-funded winter sampling program for the shrimp that will yield close to 60,000 pounds for seafood counters.