Regulators Vote to Extend Shutdown of Maine’s Shrimp Fishery

Regulators have voted to keep New England’s northern shrimp fishery closed, extending a shutdown that has sidelined what was once a thriving winter industry for Maine fishermen.

According to WGME 13, the fishery has been under a moratorium since 2014, after warming ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Maine sharply reduced shrimp populations. Scientists say the environment has become increasingly unsuitable for the small pink shrimp, leaving stocks too low to support sustainable fishing. On Thursday, a board within the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to continue the closure for at least another three years.

According to commission documents, shrimp abundance remained “poor” this year, even though environmental conditions showed slight improvement. The decision follows a limited, industry-funded sampling program that allowed fishermen to catch shrimp strictly for data collection. Despite enduring rough winter weather, participants caught just 70 shrimp weighing less than three pounds total.

Regulators said the results reinforced ongoing concerns about the health of the stock. “Exceptionally low catch levels observed throughout the program reinforce concerns about the viability of the northern shrimp stock in the Gulf of Maine,” the commission wrote.

The news station reported that when the fishery was active, northern shrimp were a prized winter catch, with annual landings sometimes topping 10 million pounds. While they represented a small slice of the nation’s overall wild-caught shrimp industry, the fishery was an important seasonal source of income for many Maine boats.

The collapse accelerated in 2013, when Maine’s shrimp catch plunged to fewer than 600,000 pounds after exceeding eight times that amount the year before. Although fishing groups have periodically pushed to reopen the fishery on a limited basis, most former shrimp harvesters have since transitioned to other species, channel 13 said.