BROWNSVILLE, Tx. — May 13, 2014 — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries division has decided to close the Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season in state waters starting 30 minutes after sunset on May 15.
Shrimp lovers have no need to worry: Just because the season is closing doesn’t mean a scarcity of Gulf shrimp. It does mean that at least some trawlers from the Brownsville-Port Isabel fleet will have to steam toward Louisiana waters if they want to fill their nets.
At the same time TPWD announced the closure of state waters to nine nautical miles off the coast, the National Marine Fisheries announced that federal waters will be closed to 200 nautical miles off the coast.
May 15 was chosen based partly on catch rates and shrimp size determined by samples taken during April, according to TPWD. Closing the shrimp season once a year is meant to protect shrimp populations and also ensure larger, more valuable shrimp for the industry to harvest.
Although shrimp lay their eggs offshore, the larvae swim into bays and estuaries to mature. They typically migrate to the Gulf as adults once they’ve reached about 3 1/2 inches.
“This is a conservation practice to make sure we can continue to enjoy our shrimp cocktails,” TPWD spokesman Mike Cox said."
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