Have you ever picked a bunch of Maine shrimp?

Years ago in my younger days, I worked at a fish market. During Maine shrimp season, if you had an extra ten minutes to yourself, it was expected that you'd grab a few big handfuls of the sweet little gulf shrimp, and clean the shells off. It was mind-numbingly tedious work. We'd pick hundreds of pounds a week, on average.

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But back several years ago, the whole industry started collapsing. Due to climate change and excessive fishing, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission imposed a moratorium on fishing for shrimp, and since 2021, there's been no fishing for them at all.

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A super small catch is on the books for 2025.

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Claudio Divizia
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From January to March, there will be a small window for catching Gulf shrimp. It will be an experiment as much as anything, just to see how the population is faring. In the heyday of shrimp fishing in Maine, there'd be as much as 10 million pounds harvested from the Gulf, according to WABI.

Cooked shrimps. Isolated on white background
karandaev
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In 2025, that number will be only 58,400 pounds. That's an almost non-existent number, considering what a delicacy they've always been in New England. This won't be enough to even whet anyone's appetite. I could eat ten pounds in a single sitting! But at least there's some to be had.

Feet on a bathroom scale - Isolated
Amy Walters
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Does this mean there will be more at some point?

That's really hard to say. Scientists believe more and more all the time, that the Gulf of Maine is becoming a more difficult habitat for the shrimp all the time. The tiny crustaceans prefer much colder water than we've seen in the Gulf for a long time. While excessive fishing was probably a component, it's the water itself that's been the trouble.

Read More: Did You Know that Maine is Home to Freshwater Jellyfish?

The other part of this equation, is that whatever small amount of shrimp does become available, will likely be wildly expensive. Imagine paying lobster prices for little Gulf shrimp. As sweet as they are, I'll probably choose something a bit more economical... Like lobster!

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