August 9, 2021 — Maine’s long-shuttered shrimp fishing business has a chance to reopen in the coming winter, but the warming of the ocean threatens to keep the industry shut down.
Maine shrimp were once a winter delicacy, but the fishery has been shut down since 2013. Scientists have said environmental conditions in the warming Gulf of Maine are inhospitable for the cold water-loving shrimp.
An interstate regulatory board is scheduled to make a decision this fall about whether to extend a moratorium on the shrimp fishery that is slated to end this year. Scientists have not seen a lot of good signs that suggest reopening the fishery is a good idea, said Dustin Colson Leaning, a fishery management plan coordinator for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the business.
“Looking at recent data hasn’t been very encouraging, and as you know, the ocean temperature isn’t cooling,” Leaning said. “On the environmental side, it doesn’t seem to be encouraging.”