How New England is dealing with shrimp industry decline

Regulators voted Thursday to extend a shutdown preventing New England fishermen from catching shrimp, a historic industry that has recently fallen victim to warming oceans.

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 shrimp population remained “poor” this year despite slightly improved environmental conditions, the Atlantic States said in documents.

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―the combined catch weighing less than 3 pounds.

Read the full story.