New Castle, NH – The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section approved a 70-day fishing season for the 2004-2005 northern shrimp fishery, a 30-day increase from last year’s season. The approved season was based upon a joint recommendation of the Northern Shrimp Technical Committee and Advisory Panel.
“The Section applauds the efforts of the Advisory Panel and Technical Committee in jointly developing recommendations for Section approval,” stated Section Chair, George Lapointe, from Maine. “We are also pleased about the findings of the recent stock assessment which have shown improvement to the northern shrimp resource. An increase in harvestable biomass to levels seen in the mid-1990s allowed the Section to open up a December fishery for the holiday market and extend the season later in March.”
The fishing season, which is the same for mobile and trap gear, will be from December 19 – 23, Sunday through Thursday; December 26 – 30, Sunday through Thursday; and January 3 through March 25, Monday through Friday.
While the reappearance of a moderately strong 2001 year-class and a weak to moderate 2003 year-class is encouraging, the Technical Committee continued to urge caution in management because of the lack of 2000 and 2002 year-classes in the past couple years of the summer shrimp survey. “The Section is confident that the expanded season will provide industry greater economic return while allowing the stock to continue to rebuild,” continued Mr. Lapointe.
The northern shrimp fishery is jointly regulated by the States of Maine and New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Northern Shrimp Section. The cooperative management program has been in place since 1972 and is currently managed under Amendment 1 to the Northern Shrimp Fishery Management Plan. For more information, please contact Braddock Spear, Northern Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at (202) 289-6400, ext. 301.